Week Fifty-Three: Acknowledging People in Your World

Walking across the park one morning, I ran into a couple – and man and woman I see with some regularity when our paths manage to cross on the way to work. On this particular morning, the woman rushed up to me and took my hand. She said, “Where have you been? I was worried about you.” Her husband confirmed that she had wondered out loud the other day if I were all right, as our paths hadn’t crossed in a couple of weeks.

After they went on their way, I continued as well, my face filled with a big smile. I mused about the fact that they bothered to stop and let me know they’d been thinking of me, and I was moved by their concern, and their willingness to express it. This early-morning encounter got me to thinking about the number of times we don’t say the things we think of saying to people we care about, all the missed opportunities to reach out with the gift of our concern or well wishes.

And so, this week’s experiment invites you to pay attention to the times when you feel moved to say something to someone, to tell them you’ve been thinking of them, or that you just wanted to say hello. The experiment can involve something as simple as saying hello to a person you haven’t seen for a while, just as the couple did with me in the park. The father of one of my friends lives far away and is quite elderly now, and I send him a card once a month, just to say hello and to let him know I’m thinking about him. A friend has a habit of leaving brief morning phone messages for people she’s close to and wants to touch briefly before she begins the day.

As with all the experiments, allow this one to be fun, to be an exploration, a discovery of possibility. Notice what happens in you as you take time to acknowledge people in your world.

Click Here for Other Weeks in This Series: