Whose life am I going to brighten today?
Well. What do you think? Can you ask this of yourself every day? Can you think of people who may need to see a brighter day?
I guess starting the day thinking about the people we’ll encounter throughout the day is a good place to start.
What does your schedule look like today?
Who will you encounter?
If today is a “normal” work day for you, the people should be easy to identify. For me, the receptionist, the sales staff, the service department, etc. These are the people I see every day. I usually don’t give it much thought. I say hi to them each morning. I interact with them daily. But, do I bring anything to the table to brighten their day? Do I make an effort to share some light with them?
Or, do I simply grumble and mumble my daily greeting and continue on with the day?
What does it look like to “brighten” the day of those around you?
Some of us probably need to raise our heads a bit more. Move away from the computer screen. Use the swivel feature in your neck.
Try it a minute. Move your head from side-to-side. Try up and down too.
If you’re like me, the side-to-side and up movements are the ones needing the most practice.
How about those eyes? Amazingly, they move too.
Combining the neck features and the eye features to look at the people around you are probably the simplest things we can do to brighten the lives of those around us.
Now for the really hard part.
Opening your mouth and speaking appropriate words!
Yes, I said “appropriate” words.
Instead of the usual “grumble and mumble” of your day, what change would take place with the use of encouraging and brightening words?
I know this seems like hard work.
All the effort may impact your own day.
In fact, I hope it does impact your day. I hope it impacts your day in a positive way!
Here’s your task: Intentionally attempt to brighten the day of a few people around you.
Let us know how it goes. I’ll certainly let you know how it goes on my end.
This post is one in a series of posts centered around the “7 Questions Guaranteed to Create Intensity in Your Day” found in the book 20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith.
