Something happened to me recently that made me decide that when I am rich and famous I am going to be nice to everyone. And I mean every.one.!! And then I gave it some more thought and decided that I shouldn’t wait until I’m rich and famous to be nice to everyone (because let’s be honest, that might not happen) – Instead I’m going to make it something that I do everyday, starting now. So alas … another resolution to add to my year of “living the length AND width of life”!

Where did this idea come from and why am I blogging about it??

Recently I went to an event and there were some famous, wealthy and very accomplished people there. Some were nice, and some quite frankly were not nice at all. And I really don’t like to feel that I don’t have the right job title, or that I’m wearing the right brand, to warrant a little polite or professional courtesy. But what struck me the most was that at the end of the night, someone that I didn’t think would engage in a conversation with me – totally did and made me feel whole again! She was incredibly generous with her time and the way she included me into the crowd made me feel really welcome. And you know, it just made all the difference.

It’s not like I’m not a nice person. (English majors please don’t critique me on that sentence!) I happen to think that I’m pretty nice and along the years I’ve had many people tell me that I’ve made them feel comfortable and welcome and things like that … but I think that taking on “being nice to everyone” will inspire a major shift in my universe and the people around me because it’s going to be something I do everyday, and not just when I’m feeling in a good mood myself. Because here is the reality – when you smile at someone – even if you don’t feel all that happy inside — you can’t help but feel a little happier. Smiling just does that to people!

Try this experiment … the next time you’re walking on a sidewalk or in a mall – make eye contact with the people walking towards you and smile, and then say “hello” … or “good morning”. You’ll be surprised at how good it makes you feel AND in the meantime – you’re making them feel good as well. You could even make a game of it and see how many people reply back (I do this on my runs ALL THE TIME).

I had a dear friend, George, who was about 78 years old when I met him, and George was a very giving person. I’ll talk about him throughout my blog posts but one thing he used to always do was say hello to people that we passed on the street. George would actually add “how are you today” … or “nice to see you” … and for the first few times I thought that George just happened to know these people because the greeting was so friendly! But it turned out that he didn’t – he was just being friendly! And it even made ME feel good because I was walking with him and that heartfelt “hello” made me smile as well.

So I decided that because this woman made me feel so amazing – that I’m going to strive to make others feel that way all the time – whomever it is that I come in contact with … because you never know when you might be able to make someone’s day.

Consider the idea yourself … you never know who you might bring happiness to (and who, in turn, will one day write a blog post about it). <smile>

I look forward to fulfilling on this new promise …