What you do matters...

Listen…..I know it sounds so cliche to say that but it's true.  What you do in life matters…to you…to your family…AND to complete strangers.

My family often makes fun of the fact that I can make “friends” anywhere: 

• In the blistering 100° heat, standing in line at Disney…why suffer alone?!?!?
• During the early morning Donut Friday run to Giant Eagle chatting with the “self checkout machine”….ok ok….it was a real cashier until two weeks ago….and she was a lovely older lady who now manages those machines.

Humans are social creatures and we need FELLOWSHIP and social interactions.  No matter how small that interaction is…we want to be part of a community and group.

In the last few years we have been isolated, locked down and pitted against one another…..neighbor against neighbor.  We have been fearful to just smile or say hello to strangers.  What if I do and how will they react during a time of great fear the government had us living in.   We fear being doxxed on social media for being that old creepy man (with a beard) who simply smiled and said hello.

In these times it is more important than ever to be kind and genuine….do it from a place of goodness knowing you may get a bad reaction.

So let me give you an example from a few years ago:
I used to run a retail pharmacy and supervisors would talk to me about how much I chatted with customers.

“Why are you spending so much time with them.  You should be getting more work done!  Why spend 10 minutes of your day talking to the 90 year old man???  He isn’t spending much money."

Well I will tell you why….THAT 90 year old man’s name is Clarence.  His wife of 65 years passed away about a year ago (I know because she used to come in with him) and he has no family close to him.  He comes in here a few times a week to grab a half gallon of whole milk….and he keeps coming back for a half gallon several times a week.

Why?? Because we treat him like a person and not a money bag.  Often companies lose site of this...we have to remind ourselves we are humans first. 

I genuinely love chatting with people to see the smile and happiness on someones face when they are excited about a topic.  Or their eyes light up when you see them across the aisle or store and yell “hey!!” as you walk over to them.

And you know what.....one day he didn’t show up. I didn’t notice at first but after a week or two I asked an employee and we both looked at each other and knew. He had gone to meet his wife.  I didn’t get a notice…and certainly nobody came to tell us….but after years of showing up twice a week it just stopped.  He was just gone.  No more joking with him or sharing funny stories. And the time spent chatting with him was worth way more than any other amount of "work" that had to be done.

And this is going to happen in life.  With people you know and strangers you meet.  There are countless examples in my life and I am sure yours. 

I wanted to touch on that "stranger" you say hi to, or hold the door for…and how you can impact the life of someone you don’t know in a positive way. Clarence surely kept coming back to see US.  He could have gotten his milk at a dozen of places, but he chose our store because of us and the way we treated him.

So continue to reach out…hold that door…because you may be the only person to smile at someone today. And that “small” interaction to you can mean the world to them. 

So keep showing up…keep mattering to those around you.  Share that small interaction with your fellow people.

Achieve more.

Shaun
Maker/Creator
8-bit Beard Co.
#LevelUpYourBeard
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