Today we spent some time reflecting on yesterday, Valentine’s Day, and this reinforced our belief that we need to delight in people every day. Delight in your loved ones every day not just on Valentine’s day and if you have extra delight in you, delight in everyone you see. Delighting in complete strangers can brighten up their day.
We have all had those moments where we are having a bad day and one small positive encounter changes the course of the day. Maybe it’s the teller at the bank or the clerk at the grocery store who you share a quick laugh with and that fleeting moment is a small connection that impacts you.
A few years ago, we had the opportunity of listening to @drjeanclinton a psychiatrist from Hamilton Ontario. She said some things that have stuck with us to this day. One thing she said was that every child needs someone whose eyes light up when they walk in the room. This had a profound impact on us. We made it a point to delight in every child we came into contact with. This year it dawned on us, why are we only focussing on children. Adults need to be delighted in too. Now we make it a point to delight in everyone we see, not just the children and families we work with, but with everyone we come into contact with. When we are met with someone who seems mean or grumpy we make an extra effort because we know they might need it even more.
There is research that proves that connection between people can impact their brain in a positive way. Yes, emotional interaction actually changes the brain. Many people spend so much time focussing on the negative; wouldn’t it be nice to spend a moment focussing on the small but meaningful connections that can happen at any time if we are intentional and open to it.
