What a glorious opportunity we have to shift the universe just a tiny bit if we look into the eyes of the many people we see for just one day, offering them a smile or a nod of the head. \u00a0This simple acknowledgment lets them know they have been seen; that they are not invisible beings with no connection to the world around them.<\/p>\n
Too many people live lives of quiet desperation, knowing little more than isolation, but we can be the connecting rod that lets them know they matter. \u00a0To us. \u00a0People have honored us in this way. \u00a0It’s our turn to pass it on, to “pay it forward,” so to speak. \u00a0And if we remember that the people who cross our path have been divinely appointed to do so, it makes the encounter even more meaningful.<\/p>\n
Thinking of the smile or the nod of the head as “passing on a gift from the God of our understanding<\/em>,” gives it a special quality too. \u00a0Life could be so much better for millions, even billions of us, if we practiced what Mother Teresa has suggested: “Be kind to every one and start with the person standing next to you.” \u00a0If only this could happen. \u00a0If only. . . \u00a0But we can be the change agents. \u00a0I have committed to it. \u00a0Will you? \u00a0The pay off is that I feel like a better human being. \u00a0Not a bad return on a tiny investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What a glorious opportunity we have to shift the universe just a tiny bit if we look into the eyes of the many people we see for just one day, offering them a smile or a nod of the head. \u00a0This simple acknowledgment lets them know they have been seen; that they are not invisible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[47,84,109,148,161],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-i-believe-you-and-your-higher-power","tag-civility","tag-fellow-travelers","tag-holy","tag-mother-teresa","tag-paying-it-forward"],"yoast_head":"\n