How is it possible? Only yesterday I articulated specific hopes for our future, among them giving away one of two annual $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors. On my way in to work today financial plans for investing money, I've yet to earn, whose returns would self-fund the scholarship, began to take form in my mind. And then a friend and co-worker extended an invitation to me - after I'd shared this part of my dream with her.
So, sharing helps dreams come true. Makes sense.
Turns out she belongs to an organization which sponsors a $1,000, annual scholarship to a high school student that writes a good essay. I'm in! Yes, it's slightly different than I had in mind, so I'm looking at this as training. Learn how to do scholarships so that when we're ready to give our own, we'll have some background knowledge.
Smiling today inspired some new noticings. For one, I realized that smiling at on-coming cars produces unknown results. Blind to their nods, return smiles, and glances, I found myself wondering what effect it was having. I continued to smile anyway. What harm could it do?
At work the results more clearly informed me of...I wonder what. When others saw my smile, they responded. Almost always with a verbal greeting, they responded, and quickly too. Did seeing a smile inspire vocalization? It seemed to. And I wonder still: Did they feel obligated to return my smile with a greeting, or were they inspired to reach out after seeing a friendly expression. Obligation versus inspiration. Does it even matter. As long as the ultimate result of my smiling at others leaves us both feeling better, that seems worthy of more smiling.
Leaving out "buts" I found doable, with some concentration. I think I'll keep at this one for a while, until it's a habit. For now it's so much work that noticing the result feels premature, and somewhat challenging. Stay tuned....
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