The last few weeks I’ve been doing a little experiment.I’ve been smiling at everyone I pass. Walking the dog, riding my bike, getting the mail, in line at the grocery store, at the gas station… you get the idea.
I wanted to see how people would react. What I found is that it’s a rare person who won’t return a smile. What I saw was faces that appeared grumpy or frowny light up beautifully when they smiled. It wasn’t just their mouths that lit up. It was their eyes, their whole being.
I don’t always feel like smiling at people. I’m sometimes intimidated by my mental impression of someone walking my way. I’m loving my little experiment because it’s blowing my impressions out of the water. It’s proving me wrong. It’s showing me that people automatically respond to other people. It’s also making me smile more. There is pretty much no downside to this. I encourage you to try this at home. Try this at work. Try this everywhere. There’s nothing to lose and plenty of smiles to gain.
Monique Minahan 