It Only Takes A Smile

As I was planning to relocate to London, people warned me of the standoff nature of the Brits. “There’s a reason why they say the Brits have a stiff upper lip.” And easily I chose to take that advice, and for a week I stopped handing out gratitude cards to those who served me. Incidentally, I also stopped writing down 10 daily things that I am grateful for. What occurred after one week of stopping these activities I had made a habit of? I noticed my mood started shifting towards the negative realm. Serving others and living in gratitude really can shift our mood…

And so I returned slowly to handing out the gratitude cards, creating my daily list of thanks, and even shifted my current woes of homesickness into what brought me here. My passion in serving others doing what I love.

If you have started in some way to choose to brighten a stranger’s day, don’t stop. It not only impacts them, but you as well. Keep it up.

When we set goals in our lives, we must have the capability to dream, confidence to act, and perseverance to achieve. The main ingredient that expedites these dreams into attainment is the humility to sprinkle each goal with how it will serve others.

With each year, my appreciation for my grandmother grows. It’s not often where the owner of a company with over 100 staff members, takes the time to run a standing birthday excel spreadsheet of each of her employees. When the special day comes, each individual is granted with a special gift and card that she personally shops for. She also never forgets a gift for each of them during the holidays and mothers and fathers days. Although she is past the age of retirement, she continues to work endlessly to support her children and grandchildren, sometimes past the point of being spoiled. Her walk in closet has turned into a gift room, full of trinkets and souvenirs to offer almost anyone she encounters. I realize her kindness and gratitude towards those that serve her and who she serves, is always doubly returned to her in the success she continues to achieve. Who in your family has been a role model to you, not just in their financial success, but service to others?

With each move, you can’t help but reflect on all that has occurred in your life up to this point. Friendships, relationships, family growth spurts, losses, trips, and blissful moments. It’s easy to forget all that we have been blessed with, until we take the time to reflect. Maybe it’s through old journals, photographs, conversations with friendships rekindled, or a random memory that may return in our dreams. Filling our spirits up with gratitude for all that has entered our lives up to this point.

Can we internally move through each day in as graceful a manner as a ballerina’s pirouette? Although it may be difficult to see when you are in it, each twist and turn you take becomes one beautiful unique dance piece. Why not celebrate and embrace each movement, perhaps enjoy the pose as you enter into it, step away from it, and venture into the next posture?