Who Have You Made Smile Today?

My husband and I were driving through a beautiful little Kentucky town yesterday morning (on our way to another beautiful little Kentucky town) when a church sign caught my eye. It said, “What have you done to make God smile today?”

After I spent a little time alone with the obvious Spiritual lesson, my Self Help brain cells grabbed the question and devoured it. 

We get so busy, don’t we?  We’re busy going here, going there, doing this, doing that, wanting this, wanting that.  Sometimes we create such a blur with our actions that the important things in life (the really, really important things) get lost in the haze.

Something to remember about the really, really important things in life:  They aren’t things at all.  They’re people.   They’re the ones who make you the maddest you’ve ever been one minute, then turn around and make you the happiest you’ve ever been the next.  The people who make you make  laugh and make you cry.  The people who make you ask, “How can I live with this person another second?” while you know in your heart life without them wouldn’t be worth getting out of bed for.

Our loved ones – God love them – why can’t they be perfect like us?

We could each ask the question the sign did, multiple times – replacing God’s name each time with people in our life.

• What have I done to make my husband smile today?
• What have I done to make my wife smile today?
• What have I done to make my daughter smile today?
• What have I done to make my son smile today?
• What have I done to make my mom smile today?
• What have I done to make my dad smile today?
• What have I done to make my brother smile today?
• What have I done to make my sister smile today?
• Etc..

Here’s a little thought: 

Think of the one person you strive to make smile the most (I’m hoping.. I’m really, really hoping… that isn’t yourself! But if it is, so be it.).  Now ask yourself this question, “How amazing would all of my relationships be AND how amazing would my entire world be if I treated everyone like I do this person?”

Why should one (or 2 or 3) people get all of your best while everyone else shares the rest?

I think it’s something siblings should think about, particularly.  They complain about their relationships, yet if the one complaining would stop and ask, “What have I done to make _____ smile today?” – they’d stop griping and start grimacing.

My oldest daughter (Emily) was leaving for work today, in pouring down rain.  She noticed that a delivery service had left a delivery for her youngest sister on the gate that leads to our house.  Although it was in a plastic bag, it was still taking a pounding.  She got out, saw the name on the bag, and saw the shape of the package.  It was obviously a poster – in a tubular cardboard container. 

Emily could have stayed in her car in the first place and called me.  If she’d told me there was a package hanging on the gate, I could have gotten to it in just a few minutes.  But she got out (again, in the rain) and drove back with it.  She even watched as Steph opened it (a High School Musical Movie poster she’d won). 

She made herself a wet rat, but she made her sister smile and her mom smile even more.  I just love it when people think of others before they think of themself.  It’s just all kinds of cool.

If you’re looking for the number one way to make your life better – begin focusing on making other people smile. Pure and simple. The brightness of their smiles will light up your world so much you’ll never let them fade away.