Change 'Em In An Instant

"You really inspire me," she said as she handed me her card.  "I've been a fan of your work for quite a while and have talked you up at my company and the various organizations I go to that need positive speakers.  I think you are great and I am so excited to hear you again!"

With those few little words, Lisa forever changed my day.  And let me just say...up to that point the day had been...well, pretty crappy.  To illustrate...

I pulled a muscle on my morning treadmill run.  Got into a verbal spat with my oldest son before I left for work.  I got cut off three times before turning into the driveway of my office building.  My reserved parking spot - yep, you guessed it! had a car in it.  I left my desk draw keys on my desk at home.  I had a line of people waiting to tell me their problems and needing my advice.  I missed lunch because a conference call went long.  Someone ate my yogurt out of the company fridge.  I spilled coffee all over an important paper.  I was stood up on an important sales call.  I had someone complain about an employee.  I got another door ding on my truck because I had to park out in the minefield parking lot.

And those are just the highlights!

I was in no mood to go to the event.  I wanted to go home, crawl back into bed and pretend that the day had never happened.  But as luck would have it, I was having to speak that evening to a professional organization, the "event" was me!  I was the one supposed to be upbeat, positive and motivate everyone else when I was about as unmotivated as one could get.

Then SHE happened.  As I was prepping for my talk this amazing bright bit of sunshine came into my purview.  And with a few short but very sweet words, the troubles of my day suddenly slipped away, out of sight and out of mind.  I felt went from being in a lousy mood to feeling like a million bucks.  My attitude, my focus and even my impression of the day suddenly changed.

We all possess the power to change someone's day in an instant.  Lisa did it for me.  I hope and pray that I am lucky enough to do it for at least one person every day.  I hope that you will recognize the power you hold in your ability to make a positive impact on someone else.

We may never know what potholed path another person may have followed up to the moment that we see them but one thing is for sure, with a kind word, a gentle smile, a warm hug, their path after us may just become a whole lot smoother. 

Think about it!

Ripple On!!!