It's the small things...
As I sat at the airport pondering on an interaction with a very unhappy Qantas employee, I am thinking about what makes me happy, sad, go wow that was service, or eek I'm not coming back!
After yesterdays experience it can simply be in the small things, in asking 'are you ok', 'can I help', a smile or saying 'I really like your outfit/style', we just don't know how that could make a persons day, moment, change their outlook or turn them into a return customer.
I love talking to strangers (as most who know me know...) and one of these stories has even been included in a book, so it is no surprise that whilst having coffee recently, with a friend (who I met in the pool at my apartment building), I noticed a ladies outfit and bag and thought to myself - I like it - so I told her! Now, it turns out that she was resigning from her job that day as the business didn't consider her clothing to be appropriate enough (I think they were being ageist... she was late 30s and after all that is quite old ;) )... Now Bec has since seen this lady and she is very happy in her new role and her clothing is appropriate. So, in that moment we made her day and boosted her confidence in a small and simple interaction.
In the same cafe I started talking to a lady as her little boy was just adorable, it turns out that her two are similar age to my sisters boys and they have no family in Sydney. Now from that interaction I was able to reassure her that she's got this and that there are people out there who will be there for her even if it is a random stranger, it lead me to babysitting whilst they went out for their wedding anniversary... they had a great time and I loved it - win win.
There are many more stories of interactions with strangers that have been one off or lead to friendships, or it could be the ladies at a couple of my favourite shops whereby I know they will always be honest with me and I guess they know I will then buy... so again a win win scenario, but it never feels disingenuous, and this is something I hope to achieve when working with my clients.
So when I have an interaction whereby I leave feeling annoyed, underwhelmed and other words I probably shouldn't say, it reminds me of the energy I am putting out, how am I interacting with my friends, family, clients, strangers, how is it that I and we want to be perceived, what feeling do we leave people with after they have had an interaction with us.
It is not always easy, we are entitled to having a bad day and you never know what someone is going through personally and perhaps they are putting on the bravest face they can, but we still need to stop and check in with ourselves and ask the questions 'am I ok' or 'are you ok'. It could be a gesture that small that picks a person up, that makes them or us realise that we aren't invisible in this crazy fast paced world.
My mission is to always remember the small things, the moments, the interactions and to continue to make small differences in my life, those around me and the strangers I come across.
