Fly-By Acts of Attention

I've had an intense couple of weeks at the office, which ended with a 3-hour meeting with my manager.  I would share with you what happened in that meeting, but I still need my job — and the fact that I still have one is a miracle in itself.

Even though the rest of the week was pretty quiet at the office — and I still have a job to go to — I thought it would be wise for me to take a 3-day weekend from the office, to let things settle down a bit between my manager and me.

This day off gave Katherine and me an opportunity to get together to discuss our next steps in our book publishing pursuits.  As you can imagine, the last couple of weeks at the office has added more motivation for me to get our book published — the sooner the better.

As we were heading out of the restaurant where we met, Katherine noticed a lone gentleman ahead of us at the cashier register.  She complimented him on his hair and asked what products he uses.  They chatted about hair products, as he finished paying his bill.  He left with the biggest grin on his face.

A simple conversation about the guy’s hair made his evening.

It’s that easy.  Really, it’s that easy!

I don’t think people realize how important their presence is to another human being.  We don’t realize how, even as strangers, we can reach out to others — through a smile, an understanding nod, an encouraging compliment — and share our light with them, even if it’s only for a brief moment.

But, ironically, the mere act of sharing yourself with others — in these short bursts of focused attention — actually recharges your own batteries.  These quick, positive interactions — these “fly-by acts of attention” — actually rejuvenate you, like a summer rain.

This requires us to change our focus from ourselves to others.  We need to intentionally switch from an internal, self-center focus to an outward, attentive focus.  By focusing outside of ourselves and placing our intent on another person, our light intuitively reaches the target of our focused attention.  We affect them in that brief moment, by just being there with them — for that brief moment.

It takes just a moment of our time, but that moment has the power to change people’s days, weeks — and quite possibly — their lives.  We’ll never know…

If only we knew the power we held within us…

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