When I was leaving the health club a few days ago, a mom and her young son were just coming in. The boy was dancing down the hall. When I saw him, I could not help but smile. He was so full of joy and happiness. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world. The boy danced across my path. As they were walking past and the mom said to her son, what do you say? I have the feeling she was looking for him to apologize for cutting in front of me. He did not do that. What he did do was stop, look at me with a big smile on his face and say, “Good morning!”, in a loud clear and joy filled voice. He made my day.
I kept walking forward and I shouted back to him “Good Morning to you!” Just as I said that, a women came walking around the corner. She stopped, took off her sun glasses and looked me straight in the eye. With a big smile on her face she said “Well! Good morning to you too! I hope that you have a wonderful day.” She made my day.
As I was walking out of the door, I felt the crisp fall air on my face. I saw a clear blue sky with a few white clouds floating in it. I saw the sun shining brightly on the beautiful colors of the fall mums and changing leaves in the trees around me. Seeing and feeling all of this made my day.
According to usingenglish.com the expression ‘made my day’ “means that someone has done or said something that made you very happy, and it made the day more special for you.” That is exactly what happened. My thinking went from the list of everything that I had to accomplish to, oh my! What a wonderful day. As I moved into my day I was looking for the good and beautiful. My mind focused on the positive, on happy thoughts and look for things around me to affirm those thoughts.
A two second honest and authentic encounter with that little boy changed my day. I also have to believe that it affected the woman who was walking around the corner too. I am sure that my new found attitude also touched those with whom I came in contact with the rest of the morning.
When I start my day, I check my phone texts and emails first thing. It is so easy for me to fall into the mindset of ‘I have so much to get done.’ Or ‘how am I going to accomplish everything?’ not always the best way to approach the start of the day. Stuff gets done. It is usually not accomplished with joy and happiness.
It is said that joy and laughter are contagious. I think that one of the best ways to feel joy is to spread joy. What you receive is far greater that what you give. Let me ask you, where will you share joy today?