Michael

I had a lot of thoughts today about how connected we are, not only to each other but to the world around us. The connections can be quite subtle and unassuming at times.

What negative string of events may happen because you got mad at someone while driving and flipped them off? Did that person react with anger and then decided to take their anger out on someone else? Did their angry reaction cause them to have even less focus on their driving? It can degrade fairly fast from here.

On the flip side, have you ever thought about the effect of a simple smile given to a stranger? What if your smile was the one thing that person needed to make their day? How many other people did their change of attitude affect? What good deed occurred down the line that started with a single smile from you?

A lot of people go through their day unconsciously, not thinking about how they may be missing connections with people. We are too focused on reading magazines, listening to our iPods, working on our laptops or just silently going through our day. We don’t say hello enough. We should smile more and observe our surroundings with interest.

It really doesn’t take a lot to make more connections. Sometimes just a look of understanding, a thoughtful nod, recognition of another soul going through a difficult time or a simple handshake is all that is needed.

What can you do today to make one more connection? You’ll never know the downstream effect you may have. But, I suspect it will be pretty good.

Michael