5th September 2011 Little Things Make a Difference: Just a Smile

About 3 weeks ago, as I was walking to a doctor's appointment, I smiled at a lady as I walked past and she smiled back. It brightened up my day and mood. It made a difference to me. It also set me thinking about how differently people interact on a day to day basis in a city compared with a day out in the countryside, and how different those two experiences feel.

When walking in the countryside, almost everyone makes eye contact with the people they meet on the way and exchanges a cheery good morning or afternoon. They may even stop for a chat. I love the sense of connection with others this gives, even though we will probably never meet again. It's good to take time to interact.

On the other hand, in the city, it's often hard to even get a smile from anyone. People rushing all the time with no time for connection, locked in their own private little worlds. Are we really too busy to smile?

I wonder how much less stressed and more connected we would feel if we just took a moment to smile at someone. Would other people would find their day brightened by that smile, or just find it weird? Maybe that person you smiled at lives alone and hasn't spoken to anyone all week. Would people feel threatened by the smile? Could it be a dangerous in some situations?

Link to discussion on G+.

17th August 2011 Overcoming a Problem by Making it a Game

Today I read about the actions of a father whose daughter was struggling to cope with the breathing exercises she had to do to clear her lungs because she has cystic fibrosis. Instead of just battling on with the problem and forcing her to go through the necessary steps every night he turned it into fun. He made use of his contacts to develop a game which is controlled by the puffs on the breathing machine.

What I like about this story is that someone looked beyond the problem and traditional way of doing things to find a new and innovative solution. It's a story of one person making a difference with an idea and then pushing it through to development.

If something as onerous and painful can be made fun by making it into a game, what other things can be made more fun in some way? We might not all be able to come up with something that will have an effect on many other people, but how can we use our own creativity to make life easier and more enjoyable for ourselves and those around us?