Smile, and change the world

Today was an overall good day. I woke up this morning, heard the letterbox then went downstairs to find a letter from World Challenge containing something Margaret (starting to wonder how she got employed in the first place to be honest...) told us we wouldn't get - a certificate! I've received quite a few certificates in my time, but it has to be one of my biggest achievements so far for sure. I was very much pleasantly surprised by it and it reminded me how much I am capable of achieving.

This afternoon, I went into town with four of my friends (Eliza, Zoe, Danny and Aiden) and we ''cheered up Wakefield'' by sticking post-it notes with encouraging, generally lovely or funny messages around the town centre. I'll post some pics on here once I upload them to my laptop. The idea was taken from two girls who are regular readers/commenters/participants on comedian Mark Watson's blog who did the same in their own home town with the view of ''changing the world''.

Now, I know that by doing the same, we certainly didn't change the world, but I like to think that we made a difference to perhaps just one person and that's what counts. Whilst I was walking home, I passed a woman who I've never met before who very cheerily said "hello, love" and although she was saying hello while we passed eachother, it absolutely made my day and made me realise something important.

It's the small things that are going to change the world.

We can make huge gestures and be ridiculously proud of ourselves and want those on the receiving end to praise us for it for a long, long time - but it's not worth it when we can make them (and ourselves) feel ten times happier by just doing something small and unexpected.

So here is my plea to you. Next time you're walking around your town, village etc, why not go out of your way to just be pleasant to somebody? It's something that is increasingly lacking in today's society and I think it needs to begin reappearing. You know, next time that teenage girl scowls at you in a clothes shop, give her a genuine smile. Next time that old woman looks at you like you're going to do something she won't like, give her a smile and say hello.

As single human beings, we're never going to change the world, but we can change somebody's world...

Besos ♥
Rachel