A Breath of Fresh Air

Today has been a lot stressful. Most of this stress is worry I have placed on myself because I’m an “overanalyzer” by nature. But a few things were actually legitimately stressful. You’d be stressed. I called someone I work with and they were stressed enough to call someone else to figure things out for them – something they never do. The person they called was so stressed they didn’t even call us back. (Are you stressed reading this paragraph because it makes no sense and it’s starting to overwhelm you? Good. I’m not proofreading that part because I want you to feel the depth of despair I felt at said stress.)

Thankfully, a bright sunbeam tore through the gloom of the day and brought a MUCH-NEEDED breath of fresh air. My sweet cousin Lindsay. She is seriously one of the most beautiful and talented girls you will ever meet. She’s never in your face about it, but she will quietly beat you at every sport you play her at (and board games, too). Lindsay’s 18 0r 19 – how sad I can’t remember?! – and we’ve never gotten to spend much time with just the two of us. So, when I was in Durham for work, I knew I had to get on her calendar.

She came to dinner with me tonight and talked about loving college life and all of the blessings God has been pouring on her this year. It was seriously the perfect medicine to a stressful day. Just to see the sheer joy and thankfulness she has was contagious. …I didn’t even think about my stressful situation again for about 30 minutes after we had dinner. That’s a big deal for me.

So please smile and share your joy with someone this week. You can actually change a person’s day for the better just by offering joy to those you interact with. Misery loves company, and when there’s no company to be found, it eventually disappears and gets replaced by a little happiness instead.

Make Someone’s Day

P.S. (Pre-Script in this case): I actually wrote that post last night and it didn’t update. So this is a totally new post today. I’m excited that I’m blogging two days in a row, this is why I tell you that.

Okay, so down to business. I am at Starbucks working (don’t worry – this is my lunch break). And all of a sudden this girl comes in. She’s probably 20-ish. She seems kind of quiet and maybe a little awkward. Well this older barista yells her name, comes out from behind the counter and gives her the biggest hug I have seen in ages – we’re talking Ben Grindle style. She spends literally 10 minutes talking to her about what’s going on in the girl’s life and how much she has missed her. She told her that every day she comes to work, she wishes she’ll see her car because she loves whenever she sees her. She told her she thinks about her often.

Now I don’t know the back-story on this. The barista was one of the best that’s ever helped me, which leads me to believe she’s a stand-up lady. But who knows, she could be annoying or obnoxious. But I couldn’t help smiling at how much this barista was encouraging this girl. She made her feel like the only person in the room.

When other people have done that for me, no matter who they are or what their personality is, it makes.my.day. I feel like that person is truly thankful I’m on this planet and cares about me a lot. Who doesn’t love that feeling??

So because of this experience, I will be finding someone’s day to make. Whether or not it changes their week for the better, I know that I will get a smile from making someone feel like they are the most important person in the room. Don’t we all need that every now and then?

A Kind Word

I am super blessed because I’m constantly surrounded by people who encourage me. Even my friends who tend to mock me more than encourage me let me know that they support me in everything. This is a huge blessing.

But I’m starting to learn that the encouragement that goes the furthest is the one you’re not expecting, from someone you don’t expect to receive it from.

For example, today: I am up to my eyeballs in last-minute projects before I leave on my honeymoon. Those who know me know that I let myself get way too stressed over insignificant things. So I’ve done that to myself today. Well then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, someone (who could have been very frustrated with me because I have to delay getting something to her) sent a quick word of encouragement my way. It’s like loads and loads of stress was just lifted off my shoulders.

Good gracious, is it obvious that I’m a “words of affirmation” love-languager??