“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”
~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
That’s my niece, Lily. Her smile makes everyone fall in love in with her instantly. Never underestimate the power of a smile.
I’ll never forget our first trip to Hawaii with our three kids and all the equipment in tow. They were 7 and 5 years old and our youngest was only 10 months. It was 1998 and United Airlines was having horrible strikes where the pilots would walk off the job and the flight would be cancelled. We had a pretty good chance of this happening. We left Denver for San Francisco - no problems. Then we arrived in San Francisco. Our flight was cancelled! We tried to be easy going. We would eventually get there. My brother lived in the city and we could stay with him. John kept the kids happy while I joined the line of tired, angry and weary people trying to get some information about their next flight. I felt sorry for the attendent when I arrived at the front of the line. So I smiled and told her, “We’re not too worried about all this. I just want to know what we should do to get on another flight. We have three kids. Should we go and stay in a hotel or with my brother downtown? Or is there a chance of getting on a plane?” I added “I know it’s not your fault.” She stared at me and finally said, “You’re so nice!” Then she put us on the next flight and gave me $125 in United coupons. These could also be used at any food facility in San Fran’s airport. It was my turn to stare and say, “No, you’re so nice!” We said it back and forth several times and ended up laughing, something I did not expect to do! We left within the hour. We didn’t even have time to use the coupons! I have had many other instances of a smile working. But that’s one of my favorites.
The Shinnyo-en Foundation has a program called Six Billion Paths to Peace . They write on their website:
“We live in an interconnected world. The actions of people around us impact us every day. In the same way, our actions impact those we live near, shop with, drive next to and work with. On a global level, what we do on one continent impacts others. What happens to one species, affects others. Like a ripple in the water, each tiny act of peace reverberates out into the world expanding the experience of peace for all of us.”
6 billion people share this planet and if everyone were to smile a little more at one another maybe there would be a little more happiness out there. Never underestimate the power of a smile.
