Happy Halloween to All:

My bride recently shared a TikTok clip – In it, a nondescript dude walking down the street randomly extends his hand to a stranger and once grasped, he elevated the stranger’s hand and guided them to do a pirouette!

Every time, I mean every time, the unexpected “dancer” smiled!

I have no idea of the total number of encounters, but this simple gesture brightened the day of countless folks.  How simple…how elegant…how rare!

With that inspiration, consider the following simple or small encounters I’ve been a part of, heard about or wanted to try.  I bet at some point even the orneriest of you relent and crack a grin!

• I called an old friend on his birthday.  Someone I have not seen in what must be 20 years, but it was immediately like “old times!”  I’m sure you’ve had this happen.  What fun!  We should all do this more often, right?  Who will you call today?
• Give up social media.  (Unless it serves a viable biz or real communications purpose).
• A beautifully aged, well-balanced, properly chilled Californian Bordeaux-style blend.  Ahhhhhh!
• Everyone’s found a penny (head’s up, right?) or quarter or more on the ground.  What about a dollar bill?  A ten spot?  Makes you wanna go buy a lottery ticket!
• A few weeks ago, I lucked into a wine tasting dinner while in my old hometown of Dallas.  There ended up being friends and or acquaintances I’d not seen, sometimes in decades.  All by itself, that was a treat, yet one or two complimented me about aging gracefully or “…not looking my age!”  An out-of-the-blue compliment always brings a smile.
• Stop and let someone cross the street!
• Buy a meal or latte or whatever for the car behind you in a drive-through.
• Just this past week, I ended up chatting with a fellow who was out walking his dog.  His name was Phillip, the dog Loki.  In very short order we determined we were on opposite sides of the political spectrum.  Guess what?  We had a conversation.  He made a few points I’d not considered.  Think I did the same.  Then, we shook hands and went our separate ways.  Wow!  A pleasant, respectful disagreement?  Remember that?  Only a fundamental of Democracy.
• It always brings a smile to my face when I hear a real belly-laugh!  Not a polite chuckle, but a REAL, full-bodied laugh.  Better still, if I happen to have been the one telling the story or joke causing the laugh!
• [I promise, this is not an addiction] I smile every time I beat my record/score/time on the Spelling Bee or the Mini or quickly get the Jumble or Wordle or 7 Little Words.  Bet you smile, too, when you do well on whatever “brain-sharpening” game you play.
• A really, I mean really good grocery store, baker or Farmer’s Market!  Does it get any better? 

• Unexpected outcomes make me smile.  One of my favorite examples is the book Wicked by Gregory Maquire.  Taking the Wizard of Oz classic, everyone knows well and re-writing it from another point of view was brilliant.  Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz turned it into stage magic with the musical.  What well-known business routine or practice will you “recreate” and turn into magic?
• A couple of days ago I got in my car and the Bluetooth connection to my phone failed and I was “stuck” listening to a local classic rock station.  BUT a live version of one of my all-time favorite songs, Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen came on.  Made my friggin’ day!  The saxophone solo by Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons is perfection.  Always a smile and sometimes even tears!

There’s a Baker’s Dozen reasons to smile – what do you have to add?

Here’s to an unexpected experience that brightens your day!