The Power of the Thumbs-Up

I’m making plans for what happens next in Crafting my Life. I’m working on the Crafting my Life e-Book, and I’m deciding if I want to run my online class on living with intention for a third time. If you’re ready for a change in your life, and you want to be the first to hear what I do next, as well as be eligible for advance access and special pricing, subscribe to my mail list!

I recently started running. This feels like a big development for me, because the last time that I did any semi-serious running was nearly 20 years ago, when I was 16 years old and it was required for gym class. As soon as gym class was no longer mandatory I dropped it from my schedule to free up space for my academic subjects, and never looked back. I was, perhaps, slightly unusual in that I preferred physics to physical education, but I did.

I was prompted to start running again because I am in training for Run for the Cure, raising money to support breast cancer research. My own family was touched by breast cancer this past year, as was my friend Nicole’s, and when she started team Bloggers for Boobies I decided to join her.

I consider running to be a personal challenge. If I can rise up to meet it, I will be proving something to myself about just what I am capable of. And so, repeating my mantra of, “If I birthed two babies without pain meds, I can surely run 5K,” I set to work. I bought running shoes, downloaded a running app, and set up a running schedule. And then I ran. And I ran again. And again and again and again. I am now on my third week of running, and I am progressing in my Couch 2 5K program. I can see improvement every time I head out.

Yesterday evening, as I was nearing the end of my run, I happened to pass an older lady sitting at the bus stop. I was sweaty and red in the face as I huffed and puffed on by. And just as I came level with her, she looked at me, gave me the thumbs up and said, “Go girl.” It was just audible to me, but it made a huge difference. I picked up my pace for the last minute of my run, and kept moving through the walk that followed.

The truth is that little gestures can mean so much. If that woman hadn’t reached out to offer her encouragement, I would have kept running anyway. But I would have been stuck in my story of, “This is hard, I am sweaty and unattractive when I do it, and I still have a long way to go.” When she took two seconds out of her day to support me, it changed my whole experience. And it made me think about the little things that I can do to encourage others.

Taking a few seconds out of your day to offer a smile or a kind word doesn’t cost you anything. But as the fabulous Kindness Girl says, “Kindness changes everything.” I really believe that. The smallest thing can mean the world to someone else. And the more that we send kindness out into the world, the more that it will come back to us. And not because kindness is magic (although it is), but because as we set a positive tone for others, they will want to repay that favour. And it will feel good to do it, too.

What small kindness can you offer someone else today? How can you encourage someone, or offer them a happy thought? And what’s stopping you from doing it?