Go Ahead, Make Someone's Day

For the first few weeks of the great virus quarantine, I found plenty to do cleaning out the closets, re-arranging the cabinets, catching up on reading and, if you have been paying attention, writing and learning social media skills. Now that I have alphabetized the canned goods, Clorox-wiped all the surfaces and even shampooed, rinsed and repeated, there is nowhere to go but inside this overactive brain.

We are forever hearing that we need to let children know when we are proud of them and praise them when they do something well. We never hear this about adults. There is some kind of social taboo about letting another adult know when we are impressed by their successes.

I can’t speak for the relationships between women but men seldom voice compliments to other men and we are too cautious to compliment women. I have often been impressed by how well a friend does something but kept it to myself. Our friends seem so secure and confident that we forget that a positive word or two can really lift their spirits.

We should recognize craftsmanship or specific knowledge or even the ability to make us laugh. We should acknowledge the skill and dedication it takes to create a good meal or deliver food or medicine to someone in need. We should let people we love know what we appreciate about them.

When we were able to be around friends and family, we could count on smiles and handshakes and hugs to express our feelings for them. Locked in our self-imposed confinements we can’t count on body language and must rely on the things we say to elevate their spirits or express our admiration for the good things they do.

Mark Twain, in his great insight, once wrote, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

During this time of worry and loneliness, we may have to.

I have come to believe that sometimes we have people enter our lives and their influence far outweighs their time with us. I have heard them called guardian angels. Their influence can come from a few simple words or from a lifetime of support. All of us can think of a small encounter that made a surprising difference in the direction of our lives.

This is a good time for us to become someone’s guardian angel.

Stay safe, love one another and just for a moment, put on that pair of wings.

Mike