Three Really Nice Things

Introduction

This is an expansion of a ten-year-old post from Seven Days In which I thought would be a very positive thing to share with you.

The image is by the wonderful Rebecca Cother and the video is a ten-year-old slideshow with a simple composition of mine as music. Check out her wonderful work here.

So here is the test from the original post and I will follow it up with some more observations, on kindness and being positive. This may be helped by the fact that it is a beautiful day here and I am feeling good this morning, even though I am facing a potentially difficult day at work (that is just the fact that four items of data are hiding from me even though I know they are there).

Three Really Nice Things From Seven Days In

Today three people have really made my day just by appreciating something I had done. What I did wasn't much but it does make you feel good when people appreciate your efforts on something. The people will probably never see this but it is amazing what effect a simple well-intentioned thank you can do. It makes you want to try harder for people and makes you appreciate those people as well.

This is going to be a short post because it's really just about another way you can bring positivity to the fore and make people happier. If you engage with people and talk with people, your smile can carry through the most mundane of mediums, even text.

So if you can thank someone for something, do it with a smile, and bring sunshine into yours and their life. Enjoy tonight everyone. This also gives me an excuse to include one of Barclay James Harvest's rockier moments which I first heard on the Old Grey Whistle Test, and it is an absolute killer riff. As I said, Enjoy your night.

A Few More Nice Things

I always find smiling is a good thing to do, even if you are on your own, though if you do smile at someone, even if you don't know them, that can brighten their day as well, and by doing that you are spreading a little happiness throughout the world, and that is a great thing to do.

When you smile, your brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides to help fight off stress. Then other neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins come into play too. The endorphins act as a mild pain reliever, whereas the serotonin is an antidepressant.

I often find striking up conversations with people is good for me and for them. Some don't want to engage, but most do and we both leave with a smile on our faces.

The cat above is Lena and her owner was trying to tempt her back with a bowl of food, but Lena was having none of it. I asked her owner if I could take some pictures and share them, told him about Cats of Vocal and the #CatsInNam hashtag on Instagram and he thought that sounded great fun.

The chances are that he has now completely forgotten about this but we spent a very positive five minutes talking and trying to tempt Lena back.

Conclusion

I know that I am repeating myself but smile as much as you can, talk with people, most people are fine with that, and be there for those that could benefit from a little kindness. Do these things and you will want to smile, and that will make you feel even better.

I will leave you with the Barclay James Harvest video that let the original post.

Have a wonderful day and keep smiling.