A speaker shares how smiling at a campus cleaner transformed their interaction, arguing that small gestures break isolation and brighten someone's day. He calls it a "moment of yes" and urges you to smile at people you meet, creating a ripple of joy.
Good morning, everyone. Here is your moment of yes for today. You know, I was, I was taking a walk yesterday out in the beautiful, beautiful sun, and I passed one of the cleaning ladies here on campus, and she kind of had her head down as she was walking up to me. And I was just looking at her, and as we got close to one another, she looked up at me, and I just gave her a nice big smile and said, how you doing? And she just had a big smile that lit up on her face, and we just kind of walked past each other. And I just noticed what a small gift that is for each of us when we have the ability to put a smile on someone's face. And how when we're actually actively looking for the opportunity to help bring a smile to someone's face and how it's a simple gesture and it's an opportunity for us just to get outside of our own little perspective out of our own little world and to actively look to engage with others, to connect with others, and especially to help bring joy to other people. Because oftentimes when we do get so caught in our own stuff, it's easy to walk around feeling like we're alone and that our problems are only our problems. And so your moment of yes for today, your opportunity is just to make them smile. See if you can make people smile that you come into contact with today. And again, sometimes it only requires that you smile at them to get that smile. So a few days ago, we talked about sharing your gift. What gift do you have that you can share with others today? Many of you might have thought that that has to be a big thing, that you have to figure out what your gift is to share. And so maybe today the gift that you are able to share with others is just a smile. Simple as that. That's your moment of yes for today. Have a wonderful, wonderful day, everyone.
