Smile, Smile, Smile :)

     "Smile, smile, smile, and turn the world around!" Those are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, "Smile" by McFly. A smile. So simple. A simple gesture, a simple concept, a simple action. So effortless, but so effective. I don't know about you, but one smile from someone can turn my whole day around. So why don't we do it more?!
     Last weekend, I presided over the State National Honor Society conference, which sounds far more impressive than it actually was. Whilst there, I had the opportunity to hear two amazing motivational speakers. One of them was named Stu Saunders. He had decided a long time ago that he would have a daily goal of making as many people smile as he possibly could. He told a story of his traveling the previous day. As he was waiting to check his bags in for his flight from Denver, he asked the gate agent if he could tell her a joke. He ended up telling a whole set of jokes to five employees, every one of them smiling and laughing. That was all he wanted, the satisfaction of knowing he was the reason someone smiled that day. As he boarded, the first gate agent told him she upgraded him to first class for free. When he asked why, she simply said, "Because you made me smile. Far too many grumpy people on the planet these days."
     The moral of this story was not to encourage anybody to tell people jokes in hopes of getting a favor or upgrade in return. The idea is that kindness and friendliness are important and do not go unnoticed. Think of how you feel when someone personally makes you smile. Why wouldn't you want to pass that on to as many people as possible? Sometimes, all it takes is a smile of your own. Can we all follow Stu's example and make that our own personal daily goal--to make as many people smile as we possibly can, every day? Pretty manageable, right? We can so do this. If you happen to be having a bad day, well, that's all the more reason to participate! "Just remember to smile, smile, smile, and that's a good enough start!"
Always, Anna

P.S. Here's the link to the song if you want to listen and, oh, I don't know, smile. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHb7unfIpF4