Life Lesson

One of the most important things I've learned in college, no really in life, is that the best thing you can do is to leave an imprint in someone's life. It's not when you're trying to make a difference or when you're attempting to make yourself heard that matters the most. It's the small things. It's the days when you're being nothing but yourself and something you do leaves a mark on someone's heart. Most of the time you probably don't even realize it, but those are the things that truly matter. We all know the people who impact on a daily basis - that our lives affect. Our parents, our friends, our roommates. Those are the simple ones. However, when you make a difference in someone's life by not even trying it's the best. A simple smile, an acknowledgement of that person, or just a small gesture. Those are the things that we do everyday without realizing the things it can change in someone's life.

I don't know how more to explain it. I'm sure everyone has had one of those days where nothing seems to be going right, where the world seems like it's out to get you. Then something small happens. A stranger smiles, someone holds a door, someone lets you out of a driveway in traffic, the unexpected. It's the unexpected because it's not what you were looking for that day - it probably was the last thing. However, I know when those days happen to me and the kindness of strangers shows, I realize I'll be okay. It's not about the big things. Everyone remembers the big events that people try for, but it's the unexpected and frequently small catalysts that really make the difference.

It's the people in life who walk around with the smiles on their faces that can change the world. It may never make the news or be in the papers. When you walk around with a smile it's this unifying thing. People smile back. Usually they don't even realize it. It's the people who have smiled at me that make me know things are okay still, even when I feel my worst. So at the end of the day even though I might feel awful inside, I put on a smile. Not because I'm trying to hide anything but because once you start to smile, it's hard to stop.

I don't know what my random rant was really about. It just reminds me as I'm getting ready to graduate and move on in life, it's a good time to tell a lot of people that they mean a lot to me. Even though a lot of the friend's I've made I probably won't talk to in another 5 years, that's alright. The point is they were my friend. They made an impact in my life and I will always remember them. I can't ask for anything more in life. Just to keep moving on and making memories, its' the one thing people really can't take from me. Sometimes they are things I want to share, and other times they're private. All that matters though is that I keep making them. No matter where I end up in a few months, the past 4 years of my life will always be a big part of my life. I know more great things are to come but I think of the simple nights of just eating at a restaurant with a group of friends or doing something silly that nobody else would understand why it was so fun because they weren't there, and I don't know how anything could top some of those memories. Even the nights that were spent shedding tears over one thing or another make me smile in retrospect. Some of those things still hurt, but I smile at the fact that they don't hurt quite as bad because there was always somebody who made the tears stop. Even if it was just that stranger that smiled at me on the sidewalk for no other reason than I existed.