Beautiful Day

At the Trader Joe’s in Toluca Lake, CA is a very special individual.  Those of you in the area who have had the pleasure of being rung up by Brisco, I’m sure agree.  Every time I saw him working, I would stand in his line, even if it was twice as long as others.  For one thing, he was so fast that I would likely be out quicker, despite the longer line.  But more important than that is how he shows up - all the time.  “How are you doing on this beautiful day” is the typical greeting I would get.  He meant it.  To him, the day was beautiful, no matter what it looked like outside, and after chatting with him for the brief time he was ringing and packing my groceries, the day would always be a little more beautiful to me, too.  I wanted to ask him what his secret was, but didn’t get around to it before leaving Southern California.
These days, my work is also customer service oriented, though with a technology company instead of a grocery.  Though I don’t interact with customers face to face, I do in email, internet chats, and over the phone. Something started happening yesterday that hadn’t happened before.  I started ending my communications with some variation on “enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.”  I began to do this because I wanted to nudge these “strangers” who reached out to me for help, to feel even more supported and cared for.  But in so doing, I noticed something interesting.  The more I encouraged others to see the day as beautiful, the more I began to see the day as beautiful.  The more I nudged people toward joy, the more joyful I felt.  It turns out I didn’t need to ask Brisco for his secret.  I just needed to model him.
You can’t sincerely encourage somebody to see the day as beautiful if you don’t see it that way.  Encouraging others in this way forced me to look for the beauty too.  Brisco was always so happy, upbeat, and energized because dozens (if not hundreds) of times each day he was affirming the beauty inherent in every day - regardless of the weather or what happened earlier.  He was sharing that beauty with others and enhancing his own experience of beauty in the process and you can’t help but feel good in that situation!
Do you want to feel more happy?  Start encouraging others to feel more happy.  “There is a great reason to be happy around here - let's see who can find it first!”  Or whatever.  Want more joy?  “I hope you enjoy something magical today.”  You’ll feel better.  The person receiving your blessing will feel better.  Your consciousness will start to recognize joy (or beauty, or happiness,etc.) more readily and you’ll feel it more often.  
Sound too good to be true?  Well, there is a catch!  You have to mean it and you have to engage in this practice for the benefit of others, not yourself.  If you go about it with the attitude of “I’m doing this so I can feel better and don’t care one way or the other if you do,” then don’t even try.  However, if you sincerely want to bring a little more Light to somebody else and come from that completely altruistic place, the shift will be subtle, but powerful.
Having discovered this for myself, I share it with you.  I share it because I know what it can do for you and I want you to be able to have the experience of it...and I couldn’t care less if I get anything out of it.
So, here is to you and this beautiful day.  May you experience something magical that fills you with joy!