Does someone make your world delicious?
Perhaps they offer a hand, admire the baby, invariably text just when you’re feeling low, offer you a ride, share their best recipe, make time for a walk, or wave you over when you arrive at yoga.
They are the people in your life who share a tidbit or a book or a show that is just right for you.
They may ask for your help or make you laugh… or cry.
Perhaps they show up with soup, call to check in or text an interesting article or just a smiley emoji.
You might not even know them personally but the poem or book or song they wrote rocked your world.
It might be the person who holds the door open for you or lets you merge onto the highway or smiles in the checkout lane instead of checking their phone.
It’s not exactly what they do… it’s just that they somehow make your world a better place.
I’ve come to think of this as a miracle knowing that they too have heartaches and regrets and have survived bad haircuts and hurt feelings and hurting bodies and not getting to be the one to push the button. And even though they’ve been disappointed, left out, left behind and rejected, they still show up and make your world a better place!
I’ve been thinking about this miracle a lot recently, especially given the divisiveness that is running rampant.
I’ve been wondering about and experimenting with how we take this thing that other people do for us and become a multiplier for joy in the world.
Three of the simplest ways I’ve found are:
1. Start with you because your good mood and smile are infectious. Do something delicious just for you. Blast your favorite music, dance like no one is watching, have some fun, buy yourself a donut or take yourself for an awe walk.
2. Try wide-ranging appreciation for things you might otherwise take for granted. Thank the mailman for delivering the mail or your feet for helping you balance or the tree outside your door for absorbing carbon monoxide and producing oxygen.
3. Set an alarm to ring randomly once a day and when it buzzes think about one good thing that has happened in your day or send a text to someone that says, “just thinking about you and it made me smile.”
Thanks to all the joy makers in my world. I couldn’t do it without you! xoxo