Be the Bright Spot in Someone’s Cloudy Day

I am a huge fan of Dale Carnegie’s classic book, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

I actually referenced one of my favorite lines from the book in my graduation speech at Stetson University:

“Tell me how you get your feeling of importance, and I’ll tell you what you are.”

I think we all crave to feel important, valued, and appreciated.

I also think that one of the saddest realities about our world is that many are often lacking the human interaction, compassion, and encouragement that fulfills that personal craving. 

Ever felt alone? Unimportant? Forgotten? 

So, while it has been a few years since I graduated college and shared this concept with my fellow graduates, I wanted to revisit the challenge that I issued that day.

For you. And for myself. 

The challenge was, and still is, to overcome the mechanical nature of our social transactions. 

In retail, in fast food, in hallways, in stores, in classrooms, and in some of our own friendships.

Smile. Look a person in the eye. 

Ask them how they are doing. And mean it.

And then pause to really listen.

Invite an old Facebook friend out to coffee. Call a friend who you haven’t gotten back to in a while. Apologize to someone you know you’ve wronged. Reach out to someone new in class.

Because you’ll never know the kind of impact these small things will have. 

We shouldn’t measure ourselves by how important others think we are. We should measure ourselves by how important we make others feel.

In short, be the bright spot in someone's cloudy day.