I remember once being at a party at a friend's apartment when I noticed, in the middle of the room, a woman of about eighty who had the most beautiful face. More than that, a beautiful light shone through, making her appear even more beautiful. I had to find out who this woman was. I eventually inched my way close enough to her to talk to her. We chatted for a while, and in the course of the conversation she told me about a game she and her husband played every day, and what a difference it made in their lives. She called it the Lift Game.
They would try to find a way to lift up the people they met. When she passed by the doorman in her building, the newspaperman down the street, the lady in the grocery store, she always had a smile and a kind word.
She told about being in Macy’s one day, and trying to deal with a salesclerk who was in a terribly negative mood. She was determined to get the woman to smile. Then she noticed that the woman had beautiful teeth, and she commented on them. The woman broke into a huge smile.
You never know the difference a kind word or a little smile will make to somebody else. Remember, everyone is fighting a tough battle. We can do more than we know with simple kindness. |