101 Ways To Make Someone Smile.

"A warm smile is the universal language of kindness" ~ William Ward.

01. Call an old friend, just to say hi.
02. Hold a door open for a stranger.
03. Invite someone to lunch.
04. Compliment someone on his or her appearance.
05. Ask a coworker for their opinion on a project.
06. Bring cookies to work.
07. Let someone cut in during rush hour traffic.
08. Leave a waitress or waiter a big tip.
09. Tell a cashier to have a nice day.
10. Call your parents.
11. Let someone know you miss them.
12. Treat someone to a movie.
13. Let a person know you really appreciate them.
14. Visit a retirement center.
15. Take a child to the zoo.
16. Fill up your spouse’s car with gas.
17. Surprise someone with a small gift.
18. Leave a thank-you note for the cleaning staff at work.
19. Write a letter to a distant relative.
20. Tell someone you thought about them the other day.
21. Put a dime in a stranger’s parking meter before the time expires.
22. Bake a cake for a neighbor.
23. Send someone flowers to where they work.
24. Invite a friend to tea.
25. Recommend a good book to someone.
26. Donate clothing to a charity.
27. Offer an elderly person a ride to where they need to go.
28. Bag your own groceries at the checkout counter.
29. Give blood.
30. When you meet a veteran - just shake their hand
(no words are necessary).
31. Help your neighbor rake leaves or shovel snow.
32. Offer your seat to someone when there aren’t any left.
33. Help someone with a heavy load.
34. Ask to see a store’s manager and comment on the great service.
35. Give your place in line at the store to someone with less items.
36. Hug someone in your family for no reason.
37. Wave to a child in the car next to you.
38. Send a thank-you note to your doctor.
39. Repeat something nice you heard about someone else.
40. Leave a joke on someone’s answering machine.
41. Be a mentor or coach to someone.
42. Forgive a loan.
43. Fill up the copier machine with paper after you’re done using it.
44. Tell someone you believe in them.
45. Tell a military service person how much you appreciate them.
46. Welcome new neighbors with flowers or a plant.
47. Call someone you don't know and ask for advice
48. Ask someone if they need you to pick up anything while you’re out.
49. Ask a child to play a board game, and let them win.
50. Ask an elderly person to tell you about the good old days.
51. During bad weather, plan an indoor picnic with the family.
52. Ask someone about their favorite movie and ask them why it is.
53. Compliment someone on their cooking and ask for seconds.
54. Dance with someone who hasn’t been asked.
55. Tell someone you mentioned them in your prayers.
56. Give children’s clothes to another family.
57. Deliver vegetables from your garden to the whole neighborhood.
58. Call your spouse just to say, I love you.
59. Call someone’s attention to a rainbow or beautiful sunset.
60. Invite someone to go bowling.
61. Ask someone about the three people they most admire and why.
62. Ask someone about their children.
63. Tell someone which quality you like most about them.
64. Read an article and call the writer to compliment them.
65. Return your shopping cart to the front of the store.
66. Encourage someone’s dream, no matter how big or small it is.
67. Pay for a stranger’s cup of coffee without them knowing it.
68. Leave a love letter where your partner will find it.
69. Ask an older person for their advice and write it down.
70. Offer to take care of someone’s pet while they’re away.
71. Tell a child you’re proud of them.
72. Visit a sick person, or send them a care package.
73. Join a Big Brother or Sister program.
74. Leave a piece of candy on a coworker’s desk.
75. Bring your child to work with you for the afternoon.
76. Give someone a recording of their favorite music.
77. Email a friend some information on a topic they're interested in.
78. Give someone a homemade gift.
79. Write a poem for someone.
80. Bake some cookies for your local fire or police department
81. Organize a neighborhood cleanup and have a barbecue afterwards.
82. Help a child build a birdhouse or similar project.
83. Check in on an old person, just to see if they’re okay.
84. Ask for the recipe after you eat over at someone’s house.
85. Welcome a new employee at work and offer to take them to lunch.
86. Ask everyone to buckle up in a car 'cause they're important to you.
87. Let someone else eat the last slice of cake or pizza.
88. Stop and buy a drink from a kid’s lemonade stand.
89. Forgive someone when they apologize.
90. Wave someone into a parking space when you’re about to leave.
91. Send a copy of an old photograph to a childhood friend.
92. Put your spouse’s favorite ice cream in the freezer with a bow.
93. Do a chore that's usually done by someone else in the family.
94. Be really happy for someone when they tell you their good news.
95. Compliment a coworker on a quality they have - you wish you had.
96. Give your spouse a spontaneous back rub at the end of the day.
97. Serve someone in your family breakfast in bed.
98. Ask someone if they’ve lost weight.
99. Make a donation to a charity in someone’s honor.
100. Take a child to a ballgame.
101. Share this list with your friends and ask them for more tips!

The Samurai.

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"No man is free who is not master of himself". ~ Epictetus.

Many years ago, during the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would sweep into a town and take control. In one village, everyone had fled long before the army arrived - everyone except the Zen master.

The leader of the army was a respected Samurai warrior who was curious to meet the old man who remained behind when others fled for their lives. When the General was not treated with the deference and submissiveness to which he was accustomed he flew into a rage.

"You old fool" the soldier shouted as he reached for his sword "Don't you realize you are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an eye?" But despite the threat of certain death the old Zen master seemed unmoved as he responded calmly...

"And do you realize that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?"

Two Monks.

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"Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind." 
~ Buddha.

Two monks were returning to the monastery from the village one evening. It had rained very hard all day and the road was covered with deep and muddy water puddles. On one side of the road a beautiful woman stood unable to cross because the water was so deep. The elder monk went up to her and lifted her in his arms to carry her across the road and then he continued on his way to the monastery.

Later that evening the younger monk came up to the old man and reproached him saying "Sir, as monks you know we are not permitted to touch a woman". The elder monk replied "Yes, Brother, I know".

The young monk left to pray but later that night approached the old man again and asked him "So why did you lift that woman on the side of the road in your arms?" The elder monk gently smiled and said

"I left her on the side of the road, but you are still carrying her."

The Difference Maker.

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"People’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.”

~ Confucius.

What is it that every sage from Aristotle on has said is the primary determinant to success? Habit. We all like to think that we are unique, special and different - well we are - but then so is everyone else.

Many of us like to believe that our talent, determination and desire will take us to the promised land of fame and fortune or at the very least comfort and peace. But it won't. Wise old men have told us, from the beginning of time, what it takes to achieve, to prosper and earn respect - it's that old saw habit. We become what we repeatedly do. Do what you have always done (in the quantity and quality that you've always done it) and you will get what you've already got. It's About Habits.

This stuff is not rocket science - but it's true. " Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character..." Steven Covey. So what does it all come down to?
If we want to get or be more we need to work on our habits.

Habits are the difference maker. They are truly what separate us.

More Quotes on Habit

Some People.

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"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."
~ Albert Schweitzer.

I had an appointment to do my taxes one night - kind of like a root canal as far as expectations go, and on the way home I decided to stop and grab a bunch of flowers for my wife at a local stand. The previous year business had been pretty miserable and we were both expecting to pay so I figured flowers would at least soften the news.

The old lady at the flower stand was from Mexico and she must have been eighty if she was a day. We talked for a while about her grandchildren, her life and what she had seen as an immigrant working at the ramshackle old flower stand. She smiled through the whole conversation and in very broken English a gentle, sincere, warmth exuded from her every word and gesture. I came away humbled and feeling like a selfish little child who really needed to grow up. Some people truly put life into perspective and rekindle the fire within us.

There are special souls among us. Take Time To Thank Them.

Taxes? Give me a break - I'm lucky I get to pay them.

The Toughest Sale.

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"I fed my ego, but not my soul." ~ Yakov Smirnof.

What's the toughest sale you've ever made? Here's a tip - you haven't made it yet. Yep, we all have stories to tell - tough guys we had to come up against and cajole, convince or sometimes even con that we, and the product we were pitching, were the answer to all their problems. But you know what? They were easy compared to the toughest sale you will ever have to make. I've pitched and worked for a few ogres over the years - from Bum Bright to an old school car man who made you shake in your boots when you even thought about doing less than you could. Every one was easy compared to the most difficult sale we ever have to close. ~ The Toughest Sale.

The most difficult sale that you will ever have to make is to yourself.

Every one of us is driven by our ego, our perceptions and the constant chatter we have going on inside our own mind. What's it saying? Many times it's affirming, supporting and repeating what we think we already know in order to maintain some semblance of sanity. To protect our status quo we surround ourselves with support systems when dissonance and discomfort can teach us so much more.

There is an old saying in sales that says if you really think you're good - Cold Call the Bronx and see how well you do. You are going to come up against a merciless onslaught just for even trying to pitch. You had better be tough and good. It's kind of like that in learning - the most caustic exteriors often conceal the most valuable insights. We don't learn very much from easy. What's the most caustic exterior we will ever encounter? Our own steadfast resistance to get out of our own way. We will argue for it, convince ourselves that we know best and re-interpret every lesson to fit within our personal frame. Why?

Because the toughest sale we ever have to make is to our own ego.

Very few of us sell that guy - He's just too tough.

The Luckiest Man.

“Tonight, I stand here, overwhelmed, as my name is linked with the great and courageous Lou Gehrig, ... I'm truly humbled to have our names spoken in the same breath. Some may think our strongest connection is because we played many consecutive games. Yet I believe in my heart that our true link is a common motivation-a love of the game of baseball, a passion for our team and a desire to compete on the very highest level.” ~ Cal Ripken.

I remember back many, many, years ago when I first read about Lou Gehrig, I was in the army and just a young and naive teenager looking at the world through rose colored lenses. I made a decision back then that his mindset, his never late, never absent, blue collared work ethic was something i admired. Something I wanted to emulate. The guy was solid, dependable and the kind of man that every coach wanted on their team. A man who had every right to whine about the tough break he got when he was struck down with a debilitating illness that would end his career - and yet he called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth". Now that was a guy I would have loved to meet.

A man that anyone would be honored to shake hands with.

To learn more about Lou Gehrig - Click here