“I Like Smiling, Smiling’s My Favorite.”

You also know what I’m talking about if you too have memorized the lines from the movie Elf, starring Will Ferrell, however that had to be my mantra this past week when I went to the post office. I thought an episode of The Walking Dead was being filmed. Not one person was smiling, and unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, they were eying my flesh.

I had spent all morning bandaging and re-bandaging my dog’s leg as he was fascinated by his 21 stitches, which topped the chart as his #1 chew toy every time I left the room. So after wrapping up an impenetrable mummy cast, on the 6th attempt, I decided to make the commitment to turn my frustrations into smiles by deciding to smile at everyone I purposely locked eyes with for the remainder of the day. I’m not just talking about a smirk, but a great big ear to ear grin.

Let me tell you, I got some amazing responses from that scientific social experiment. Roughly half the people I encountered smiled back. Which made me feel good, because I feel in some small way I made their day a little better. That’s fitting, because on MY Destination Tree, I pledge to do something every day to make at least one stranger smile. The other 50% was a smattering of angry stares, annoyed looks, lifeless glances and one old woman who wanted to fight me.

So the moral of the story, is be so happy that when others look at you, they become happy too.

I hope you have an amazing week, and thank you all for the great ideas and feedback on Destination Tree so far. Wow is all I can say. What an incredible first week. Cheers!

Live Inspired,
Matt