A Smile is
Just a Smile
Fifteen
eye contacts, four smiles and two hellos.
That’s what I received from five days of walking from my hotel near Grafton Street Dublin
See,
I love smiles. I love giving them, and I
love getting them. So, this was kind of
an experiment for me. I’ve been to Ireland before, but this was the first time I’ve
spent the entire time in Dublin Dublin
I
wonder if they have any idea how good that made me feel? I don’t think people realize the power of
their smiles. That simple connection
between two strangers can change an ordinary day to an extraordinary one. Oh, I know what you’re thinking! It’s
not safe to make eye contact with strangers.
You never know if someone could be a psychopath, and you can make
yourself a target just by acknowledging him/her.
Well,
I suppose that’s possible. You could be unlucky enough to smile at the
wrong person—and suddenly you’ve become their next obsession. But if I’m going to live life thinking like
that, I might as well crawl into a cave and become a hermit. And I don’t want to live like that. I believe we’re all put here for a purpose,
and we meet people for a destined reason—in some little way, they change
you…make you a better person.
I
like to talk to strangers. While in
Dublin, I struck up conversations with several people—a young Irishman on
Grafton Street who studied at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, a man
who ran a charity shop across from Trinity College, a female customer in the
same shop, an attractive young salesclerk in a trendy shop on Grafton Street,
two Norwegian men in an upscale shoe store, a garrulous taxi driver who totally
made my day—we talked politics, gun control, books, the high cost of drinking
in pubs, the Virginia Tech massacre. As you can imagine, not all of these
conversations were light and airy, but I left each person, feeling connected to
them in a universal way. And I’m glad I
took the opportunity to converse with them.
I walked away, feeling like I’d learned from them in some small
way. That we were connected.
I’m
not saying everybody should engage strangers in deep conversations every chance
they get. It’s not in everyone’s
personality to do that. But what I am saying is don’t ever underestimate
the power of eye contact and a smile.
Try it sometime—I guarantee that when you get a smile back from a
stranger, your day will feel just a little bit better. J J J J
Okay,
so I chose a winner for my April website contest, but unfortunately, I haven’t
heard from her. So…Karen Farmer, if you’re
reading this, contact me at carolebella2001@yahoo.com
and give me your address so I can send out your prizes. Also, I need to know which book you want, and
if you want print or digital.
If
I don’t hear from Karen by next week, I’ll draw another name.
Hope
all of you have a blessed May.
Carole
