I do it all the time - smile that is!

I was running the other day near the shopping center when I passed two people in their sixties I guess, a man and a woman. They were standing on the sidewalk sort of looking around and peering back to a folded map of some sort. When I spotted the map and the looking about, I asked if she needed any help. They were cute! Speaking with a heavy European accent they both quickly replied. "Oh no, thank you". I even hesitated slightly, in case they would suddenly change their minds, but they didn't. I know I had the look of "are you sure?" on my face. I guess they were fine. What they did have however was the look of wonder and graditude. It was priceless! This is American and people are very friendly here, and helpful. They looked very appreciative. And I felt very American and proud and glad that I took the time to ask! Dont' you always want people to feel that they were glad they came to visit?

And it's another reason why people should get out and walk or bicycle more. Because unlike being cooped up in the car, when passing by on foot we have a tendency to speak to one another and say hi. I love it, actually. It gives me a home town feeling to greet someone on the street. Try it some time, it will give you a good feeling.

Be the first one to smile at someone and see what happens..they smile back don't they. It's a reflect thing? I don't know, but try it. Maybe people are shocked? Maybe they are thinking, that maybe they should know that person? Anyway, I do it all the time, because it's so unexpected but I think, appreciated.

I recently saw a questionaire or survey about if we thought people were becoming less polite or even rude. Well, I wonder how the survey was conducted? Did people wait for a polite gesture, did they merely forge ahead without taking the time to consider other people. Just how ws the survey conducted. Because I'm sure that there would have been different results if the persons taking the survey would have smiled first or have gestured politely first. Just something to think about. As the survey results reveals, however, it was concluded that people are now more rude. Okay, so now we have the power of suggestion and a little self-fulfilled prophecy going on here now.

Now I have it in my head, because of that survey that people are down right mean..so I'm not smiling first only to be smugged. Oh the power of suggestion!

Suggestion is a powerful thing isn't it? Oprah suggests a book and immediately it is on the best seller list. Commericals are extremely suggestive and make you think that you must have the product or else you'll be out of the loop and no one will love you or they will love you.

Oh the pressures of society. I'm engaged, now you know I'm having sex. I'm getting married so now I'm truly normal and acceptable in society. I'm normal! And isn't that just exactly what "normal" is, what everyone else we think are doing.

Just be your own person. The people are most admired in my life are people who had their own look about them. They are the priceless ones. The individuals worth knowing; the true thinkers. They are true to themselves and people are in awe of them because they are self-confident enought be be who they are, I love it. I love them all of their idiosyncracies.

In the dictionary, I see that idiosyncracies means eccentric: strange; deviating from the norm of usual patterns.

There's that mode again. Oh, you can't be different, what will people think? They will hate you! You will be ostracized! And yes, that is true; still true, but even more so years past. And everything that was different, out of the norm, colored out of the lines was a sin to boot! You are not only ostracized but going to hell too in a hand basket - whatever the hell that meant! But you were going!