For some people, smiling doesn’t come easy or maybe it just isn’t something you do often enough. Smiling indicates happiness or joy or just a good mood, but it also can mean absolutely everything. Even though I have bad days just like everyone else, I make a conscious effort to smile towards my fellow students or professors on a daily basis.

Whenever I do have bad days, a kind face is always what shakes me from my mood. When I finally understood that that one little motion is enough to change my day completely, I knew that I wanted to help be that change for other people on their bad days.

Sure, people don’t tend to talk to one another on their way to class or even make eye contact with others as they attempt to scroll through their phone and walk on the twisted bricks without hurting themselves. Maybe it’s just an understood notion that you shouldn’t make eye contact or acknowledge each other people when you walk, but is that how it should be?

Whatever happened to making small talk with other people when waiting on the crosswalk light to change? Or when you see someone who has their hands full, why does no one stop to help? I’ve noticed that most of the students I see on a daily basis keep their eyes down and push through the crowd, and I get that if you’re in a hurry or running late, but why can’t we take the initiative to see each other’s faces and share just a brief moment of happiness?

A smile can set the tone of someone’s day as well as your own. As much as it impacts another person’s day, it improves your own as well. Smiling releases positive chemicals in your body which enhances your own feeling and mood. So ultimately, if you actively make an effort to make someone else’s day better with a smile, you’re making your day better as well.

It doesn’t have to be a full-blown conversation, but just a brief “Hello” or “Good Morning” or “Hey, how are you?” is all it takes to make an impact on someone. You never know who might really need that brief moment of acknowledgment just to get them through the day. I have been at that point a few times, and just the slightest moments really do make a difference in someone’s life.

Taking a moment to think about something as simple as smiling if enough to make a positive impact on someone. Moments are all it takes to impact a person, so make each moment a good one and one that will positively impact yourself and others.