"You have a great smile" he said. "I'd smile like that more often if I had a smile like yours." This compliment was bestowed upon me by a young guy, the cashier at my local Good Will store. I walked in earlier, self-conscious that I forgot my hat at home and overly concerned about my frizzy, unkempt hair and greasy 10 hour old make-up. I walked out feeling like a million bucks and with a spring in my step. I replayed that conversation in my head at least 5 more times on the drive home.
And it made me realize, I don't want to be a cynic anymore. I want to see the kindness, the goodness in others above all else. I don't want to concern myself with their ulterior motives. I can't control them anyway. It's exhausting being on guard all the time and trying to be "right" about the motivations behind why some people do the things they do. It leaves me crabby and stressed and leery of interaction with strangers and even friends sometimes. It puts me on guard around my own children, sometimes paranoid that if I let my guard down, they'll walk all over me for the rest of my life.
That 30 second conversation made me realize my life doesn't have to be that way. That living in fear of being taken advantage of actually robs me of the ability to do someone a kindness. So I'm done with my old ways. I'm ready to start looking for and seeing the good. :)
