I wish people would realize the impact they have on others. I get that everyone is different and reacts to people in different ways. So let me tell you about my experience.
I am a person that is highly influenced by my surroundings. My physical surroundings, the people around me, even the weather. I get a lot of my social cues from other people, so a kind word or an open stance goes a really long way with me.
The past few weeks have been tough for me in many different ways. I've felt up in the air, out of control of everything going on, and I felt fuzzy and out of place. A lot has been happening to me that isn't in my control, and I think this past weekend was my time to snap back into gear. So needless to say, a lot of feelings were happening and I wasn't the happiest of people lately.
But here's what makes me happy. The little interactions with people. I bet they didn't even realize how much of an impact they have had on me. On Saturday, I decided I needed to be proactive and get some adult things done. One of those things was picking up my drycleaning that had been sitting at the store for over a month. I had completely forgotten about it, and was embarrassed about having to pick it up after such a long time. But the minute I walked into the store, the woman working was so nice. She asked me about my weekend, and she reassured me that my clothes hadn't been there long. She talked with me about their policy on getting rid of clothing, and was incredibly genuine with her interaction. In a world of hustle and bustle, where you rush and text instead of having personal interactions, this woman was a breath of fresh air. She took the time to chat with me. And she acted like she truly did care about me and my answers. I don't know her name. I don't know anything about her, and she doesn't know anything about me. But I know in that moment, I felt important.
Today was another great example. I was walking to my apartment during the day, and a couple of workers I am friendly with stopped me to chat. They were on their work break, and we were talking about some maintenance things happening at my job, and one of them all of a sudden told me what a good job I was doing and making their jobs easier. He gave me a hug, too. I was so surprised, as this was completely out of the ordinary. Sure, I am friendly with them and we always chat, but the fact that they both showed genuine appreciation for me filled my heart with joy.
Or the fact that I can contact someone late at night, and go on road trips and meet up with people randomly. That there are people that care about me enough to be spontaneous and understand when I need to clear my thoughts.
There is a reason I don't have an EZ Pass in New York state. Sure, having that pass would be so convenient. I could just fly by toll booths, not have to worry about having money and coin on me at all times, and not wait in long lines. But I don't want to. Because I would be missing the human interaction. As I said, I am highly impacted by my surroundings, so even if a random toll booth worker smiles at me and tells me to have a good day, I feel a little brighter inside. It makes all the difference in the world.
I'm telling these stories for a couple reasons. First of all, I think we all need to take the time to think about the little things. Maybe you aren't like me, and maybe you don't become impacted by others and your surroundings. That's fine, but there are some of us that are. The fact that we all can do such small things, but make such a positive difference is amazing. A genuine smile. A genuine care for a stranger. A genuine compliment. These things can make someone's day or even week. I know it's made mine.
The second part of this is that I often get scared by society today. This is going to make me sound really old, but there isn't a lot of personal interaction anymore. I have gone entire days without talking to a single person. Sure, I love to text, but it misses a lot. Texting is so easy and beneficial in a lot of ways. But face to face talks and phone conversations can mean so much more. I work with college students, and so many times, these students have no clue how to interact with people. I feel that we all are missing key components of life, which are those genuine human interactions.
Here's my thought. I think we all need to be conscious of our lives and our interactions. We need to consider how we are connecting with people, and how we come off to people. I truly believe a small gesture like a genuine smile can make all the difference in the world. So why can't we all just do it? Smile at a stranger. Show genuine interest in a person's story. Make a genuine compliment. What's it going to hurt? I bet nothing, and only make someone's life better.
