Tuesday 2 July 2013

Let's Make it a Better Place - For You & For Me

You can't change all that is wrong in this great big world, but you can have an impact, even if it is just a tiny, positive impact on a stranger that receives a smile from you on the street today. There's so much we can do for others, and in the end, what we do for others ends up benefiting us tenfold. So let's do this. Let's make our little worlds amazing today. 
~
Craig Ballantyne
Why does it take us so much of an effort to compliment someone; whereas we could point out a dozen flaws in that someone without pausing for a breath? What is it that makes it so difficult for us say nice things, and so easy to dole out copious portions of harsh words? Would it be a bad thing if someone who passed us by on a street somewhere not only secretly admired the attire that we had worn or the bag that we were carrying but also said it to us? Likewise, would it be such a bad thing if we did that to someone else? Nobody minds hearing good things about themselves; but do we like saying good things to others just as much? Simple things like smiling at someone or saying 'thank you' seem to have become so tedious. Most people wait for the person across to break the ice, not realizing that the person across is waiting for them to do just that. What ensues is that all good things that should have been said and done walk away - unsaid and undone - and the world remains devoid of innumerable pretty smiles and the probable little bursts of cheerfulness

We don't usually see it this way, do we? We find a strange comfort in negativity and embrace it like a lost kin. Eventually we also overlook the opportunity to spread joy in our own little way. But I believe it's never too late; to join little children in a game of hopscotch in the streets or to help someone gather their belongings that they may have dropped, to thank the valet in the restaurant for parking your vehicle or maybe to just tell the sweeper in the compound what a good job he is doing. Next time you have the chance, seize the opportunity, smile and do your bit to make your world a better place.