The value of a simple greeting

How many of you have had the experience of being greeted very pleasantly either by known friends/acquaintances or family or even by total strangers in the street/mall or any other public place?

I have had innumerable such experiences of pleasantries being exchanged between myself and the friendly other. Since I tend to greet everyone jovially, such an exchange comes naturally to me. If you look at it how much of your time or effort goes into giving a genuine smile to those you come across? Yet what you receive and feel in return is immeasurable. A simple act such as a smile or a simple word such as "Hello" can make someone's day or cheer someone up. Understanding the gravity of such simple acts will encourage us to be cordial and pleasant to each other.

The other day I was driving back to the porch after dropping my daughter at her school bus stop, when the neighbor's young daughter who was busy keeping her school bag in the car, looked up and gave a broad friendly smile. Just that one act gave me so much joy that a thousand words cannot suffice. There was as such no compelling need for her to turn around and greet me, yet her welcoming manner, her demeanor just touched my heart especially when I have experienced a totally opposite reaction from my younger relatives! At that exact moment, I decided to put this experience into words in my blog for my readers to understand the value of greeting each other and to realize how our younger counterparts can sometimes teach us valuable lessons in life.

Many moons later, as we grow older, we become judgemental, avoid the basics in life and start interacting with caution. Yet the innocent ones (the remaining few in our younger generation) teach us not to worry about how the other one reciprocates, but to be the one eager to spread joy with a simple smile.

Needless to say, I have also come across many who always have a permanent frown on their face. Their seriousness seems to stem from some deep-rooted hurt inside. Even after greeting them with a happy smile, their frown never leaves them. In spite of such rude behavior on their part, offer them that smile, for never should the other's roughness impact your softness. I am seeing more and more younger kids behaving so much like grown-ups with their minds full of judgments or low self-esteem thoughts that they forget the very natural act of being cheerful, which is what childhood is supposed to be all about. It is sad to see very young children behaving more and more like their serious elder ones, losing their innocence at the hands of their devices which according to me is as dangerous as giving them mini-guns! In the process, they even fail to respond to their elders greetings.

I hope that the few cheerful souls continue their service of bringing joy to those around them with the simple pleasantries they offer and their genuine smile aids in melting the hard-core stiff serious young and old ones and one day they learn to smile and be pleasant to the ones they meet!