Murderous in[Sanity]

I saw these quotes and they made me smile(:

"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”

“A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.”

All right, folks. I wrote this during one of my moments, so you'll have to excuse me if it makes you cry. Brace yourself.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately; I like thinking. It’s soothing, and usually leads to challenging or new ideas, which I – of course – adore. Recently, I’ve been wondering about the effect I have on people. Am I insignificant, or do I affect an influence upon other people? If it’s the latter, am I a positive or a negative influence? Maria P. says that “we unconsciously absorb each other’s energy, adopting the temperament of those with whom we share close quarters, and find ourselves changed after the briefest encounters.” If this is so, I truly hope that the changes I’ve made in my life have bettered the lives of those around me. Just thinking about these things has made me smile more often at strangers on the street, even those who appear to be too miserable to even want a smile.

Personally, when someone smiles at me, that simple fleeting gesture leaves a mark that is anything but evenescent. Thought I may not remember the faces of those who have offered me a smile or a brief “good morning”, I remember the act. In remembering, it makes me want to pass on that warm, fuzzy feeling to another person. I hope that by passing on the smile or the greeting, I have begun a chain link of events that lead to millions of people around the world giving and recieving smiles…

Perhaps it’s too much to ask; occassionally when I offer someone a smile, they glare back at me as if they would rather drop dead than smile back. But these people I merely pity. If they are so selfish that they don’t even have the intriguing urge to pass a smile on to a stranger, then they need all the smiles in the world. Because what better way to teach someone to do something than by immersing them in it?

Yesterday, while I was walking down the street by my house, I encountered one such person. I’m not sure who this man is, or why he is so miserable, but I see him nearly every day. And every single time I pass him, I smile at him and say “good morning/afternoon/evening”. He merely glares at me and scowls. Every single time. Except that yesterday, when I smiled at him, said my usual greeting and went to pass by him, I think I caught a glimpse of a hint of a grin on his face. I’d been working for weeks on that expression! Maybe it’s nothing major, maybe not enough to turn the techtonic plates, but it definately made my day and showed me that I do have an effect on people. I can change lives for the better, even if they don’t know I’m doing it!

I hope that man passes on his smile to someone else. I think everyone should offer a smile to at least two other people every day. If you do the math, the whole world could be smiling one day. (: