Day Four: To Speak or Not To Speak…That is the Question

Sweet Jesus…day four and this kindness thing is harder than I thought! So what I was thinking about today is how I observe people around me too busy to talk to one another. I made it my mission today to talk with people. Everywhere I went today. When the opportunity arose I spoke with people beyond the “hi and how are you exchange”. You know what I discovered…people talked back. I learned a lot about several people in just a few moments. I learned that the young woman who was running the demonstration table at Trader Joes was looking forward to seeing her family from out of town for the holidays. I learned that the coffee attendant at Forza was a Residential Aide at his college and he still thought of Christmas like a little kid…excited to run down in the morning and see all the gifts under the tree. I also learned he was interested in child psychology and would be graduating soon. Most importantly I learned that when you take a few moments to look someone in the eye and show genuine interest in their lives that the atmosphere changes. They seemed happier and brighter and I certainly felt more joy than usually running around doing my “errands” being trapped in my own thoughts.