How Can I Make You Happy

By Bernadette A. Moyer

Not that long ago I was visiting Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville is a favorite travel destination for both my husband and me. We try and go at least twice a year. We love country music, the downtown club scene and Opryland at Christmas. The people are kind and so friendly.

On this occasion we travelled to Franklin to shop and check out a few antique places. When I walked into a shop the owner came to greet me. Instead of the usual “hello” and “can I help you?” He said, “How can I make you happy?” It immediately made me smile and I thought, how nice!

What a refreshing way to greet someone, “how can I make you happy?” Do we even think that thought, let alone say it out loud? What if we did approach everyone with a mindset of “how can I make you happy?” Rather than a “What can I get from you today?” Or “What can you do for me today? “What a nice shift in our mindset.

Just thinking that thought of how I can make someone else happy, makes me smile. So often we are stuck on ourselves, our feelings, our wants, our desires. Yet most mature adults know that a life of service and of giving is much more fulfilling.

Last week I was driving through a Delaware self-serve toll that costs 50 cents, the guy ahead of me tried using the coin changer machine, it appeared it wasn’t working. I could sense his anxiety. His tag read Pennsylvania tags, he looked just like my father, and I easily had the 50 cents so I drove around him and paid his toll. This guy was so appreciative. He had enough money to pay but watching him become flustered I felt compelled to help. The appreciation from this old man was well worth the 50 cents and so much more, he made my day.

There are opportunities every single day to be a giver, to be a positive life force. To make some else’s day better is a gift too. Yesterday I was walking through a big box store when a father and son were coming up directly in front of me. The father gently guided his son over so that my pathway was open for me to proceed. I gave the father who seemed a bit serious a big smile of appreciation. The smile that he returned to me was priceless. Those smiles cost absolutely nothing and yet I know that it made me feel good and I have to assume that father was feeling good. His huge smile was wonderful!

Today, go out into the world, maybe not saying it to every single person we meet along the way but in thinking it, “how can I make you happy?” Little acts of giving and of kindness go a long way. Be the do-gooder and watch just how much goodness comes right back at you.

How can I make you happy?

Bernadette on Facebook www.facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer