After I realized it was my responsibility to get out of my shell and talk to people and actually began doing it! …I realized how fun it was and liberating!!
People like other people being friendly to them and generally they will be friendly back. It started out me forcing myself to be friendly to get cured of the insecurity, and soon I wanted to reach out to talk to others.
Last night on my walk around the neighborhood, the man next door had really been working hard landscaping his yard…a massive project taking a good portion of the summer. I hadn’t met the neighbors yet, but hollered up to him that their place was looking really nice. He said he was doing fine, and would feel better after a shower. I realized he’d misunderstood me so I said again how nice a job he was doing and how well everything looked. A big smile broke out on his face and he said ‘Thank you, Thank you!’ Sometimes after lots of hard work, you can wonder if anybody even notices.
I continued on and met a young family with two kids walking and greeted them, ‘What a beautiful night it is, isn’t it?’ (with a big smile on my face) They all smiled back, waved and said ‘yes it is! We all felt better. A quick ‘meet and greet’ and the evening is off to a good start.
People need acknowledgement and many times we have to break the ice. (Might as well pour a little lemonade and cookies while we’re at it!)
There is work to be done to repair good neighborliness after the last two years’ lockdown. Let’s get at it. Many people are still in hiding and need to be brought out.
Perhaps one of us taking a moment to smile and speak to them will help them come out of their fears and back into circulation 🙂
Mrs. Goodfinder 