It was 4pm and I finished packing my presentation after running a full day of professional development for teachers. I taught a group of 40 teachers the importance of touch and planting good and happy seeds in their students’ minds.
As I packed, everyone came to give me a hug. I was pumped and very happy. I was having a good day. An older teacher, who had not spoken much throughout the day, talked to other teachers and smiled to me every time she passed next to me, but did not give me a hug. She was the only one who did not hug me at the end of the day. I tried to tell myself that convincing 39 people we all need 12 hugs a day was good enough, even if I have missed one person. After a long day on my feet and doing my best to stay fully focused, all I wanted was to go to the supermarket, pick Eden up from the bus station and go home.
When everything was inside the car and I started driving, the older teacher came out of the building. I smiled and opened the car window.
“Have I given you a hug?” I asked.
“No, you haven’t”, she said, sounding disappointed.
I turned off the engine, unbuckled my seatbelt, got out of the car and gave her a hug.
“Thank you!” she said and started asking me personal questions about her son. During the break, she had approached me, but saw I had been talking about communication styles with 6 other teachers and had not felt comfortable asking her questions, because they were too personal.
My supermarket time was disappearing quickly, but I knew it was my chance to be kind and I stood in the driveway with her for half an hour to answer all her questions. She thanked me for the day and for my answers, gave me another hug and I drove away happy, knowing I had helped one more person feel good.
Just before the entrance to the shopping center, I stopped at the light. Right beside me, I saw a black car with lots of smiley stickers. I was tired and that made me smile. In the car was a woman with lots of tattoos and piercings. She was talking to a 9-year-old girl sitting next to her. Every time I looked at the car, I smiled.
“I should tell her I like her car”, I said to myself.
“But what would I say?” I answered myself.
“That she has a great car”.
“She can’t hear me”, I debated in my head.
“Maybe I can say it in sign language”.
“How can I attract her attention? She’s talking to the girl in the car”.
“I’ll beep”.
“No, if I beep, everyone around will turn to see what’s happened” (people in Australia never beep).
“So what? It will give them an opportunity to see her car and smile too”.
So I beeped. The tattooed woman turned her head with a suspicious look.
I signed with my hands and mouthed, “I love your car”.
She smiled. They she said something to the girl and looked at my car with the Be Happy in LIFE sign on it and smiled again. I felt good. When the light turned green, she waved at me with a big smile and drove away.
As I drove into the supermarket parking, I thought to myself, “What an easy way to make people feel good”. Do you know how many times I look at beautiful people and feel embarrassed to say, “You are so beautiful”? I wondered why.
I stopped the car, put on my red shawl so I would not freeze next to the refrigerators and entered the supermarket. It was the end of two full days of workshops. My feet ached and I was exhausted.
“I want to take my shoes off”, I said to myself.
“That’s not nice to walk barefoot in the supermarket, especially not when I’m dressed up like this”, I countered.
“I have a huge shopping list and Eden is going to be at the bus station in an hour. I don’t want to be in these shoes for another hour. I’m taking them off and that’s that”, I decided.
So I took my shoes off and put them in the trolley. The supermarket was full of people and everyone who passed me by and saw me barefoot gave me an understanding smile.
I finished my shopping quickly and stood at the checkout, thinking I would go straight home to put my feet up and ask Gal to pick Eden up later. I called Eden to tell her I would not wait when she told me she was already on her way and by the time I put my things in the car, she would be at the bus station, which is a minute’s drive from the supermarket. My lucky day!
I pushed the trolley into the parking. A woman walked towards me, talking on her mobile phone. She stopped for a second in front of me, still holding her phone to her ear, and said, “You look so beautiful”. Then she kept walking and talking.
I smiled. That made me feel great!
I turned and looked at her. “Do I know her?” I asked myself.
“No, I don’t and she doesn’t know me either”, I thought, “But what she said still made me feel good”.
“Why would she say something like that?” I wondered.
Do you think I summoned her through the Collective Consciousness with my hugs, attention and compliments to others?
Be kind! The world is a lot brighter that way.
Ronit
