There's days when I go out to run errands and run into people who just look so grumpy. I give them a smile and sometimes even say hello, but in return I get the evil eye or simply get ignored. At first I would get a little upset. I mean, why am I smiling at these strangers who aren't even going to appreciate a kind gesture? So I then stopped making eye contact with strangers so that I can stop giving my "free smiles" away. But honestly it's tough not to make eye contact with people. And when I really thought about it, my solution to the whole situation was kind of childish. Someone won't smile at me so I won't smile at them was just plain silly and immature. I thought of reasons why people wouldn't smile and thought of so many! They could be stressed, having marital problems, having financial problems, facing a medical issue or dealing with a loss/death, the list goes on and on. At that point I put myself in the shoes of all those strangers and really empathized. It wasn't that they didn't want to smile at me, it was that they couldn't put on a smile with all that was going through their minds. Of course, some people are naturally just grumpy all the time and some are all smiles all the time, but I think everyone deserves a little smile to brighten up their day or to brighten it up even more. I now continue to smile at random strangers, even knowing that I may not get a smile in return. Who knows, maybe that one smile I give could be infectious and give a stranger inspiration to pass it along!
"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up." -Mark Twain
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