Day 19: How do you want to be remembered?

Prec·e·dent [n. pres-i-duh nt] 

1. any act, decision, or case that serves as a guide or justification for subsequent situations.

What precedent are you setting? How would people describe you? Not just your friends and family, but strangers in the grocery store, the people you see daily at your gym or daycare. What would they say? How is your light shining?

The good thing about these questions is that it’s never too late to change! Don’t get yourself down. Just make a plan and drive on!

In your journal, write down a plan of action. What are some things you could do at work to leave a positive trail of smiles? Imagine yourself as a light bulb that spreads smiles throughout your day. It could be saying more than “I’m alright” when someone asks how you’re doing. Try saying, “I’m great! How are you today? Anything fun happen to you?”

You might be thinking that I sound crazy, but you’re almost guarantee to, at the very least, get a smile out of the other person. Possibly because they are wondering why you’re asking them if anything fun happened to them, but a smile is a smile and you, my friend, are the giver of them!

“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. 
It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”
-Quoted in P.S. I Love You
Compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Plus, you’ve just planted a smile seed. You might have changed that person’s paradigm. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll keep spreading smiles. Remember, smiles are contagious! Even seeing someone else smiling can lift your spirits.

See what I’m talking about? 

In your plan of action, write down some specific things that you would like somebody to say to you. Start there and then develop your own ‘talking points’ that you can have ready. Ways you can spread smiles that will help others to ‘positive up’ and get over the non-essential stuff that stresses us out.

You are totally awesome and it’s time for you to own it. Stop beating yourself up over that extra weight or maybe you wish you had a different car. Who cares (unless your car isn’t functioning, than you might care)? You are all that is necessary. You were created with everything you need. You are here at the perfect time and you are loved!