ENERGY

The last month or so I have developed a new addiction to energy drinks. Mainly red bull, but sometimes there are others. Well, I realized Monday morning after a terrible night of sleep that I did not have any energy drinks! This was quite horrible for me at the time, because I had gone to bed really late Sunday night, and didn't sleep that well. So I text Kari, tell her I'm not going to ride with her today, because I have to stop by the store on my way to work (yes I needed it that badly). Well I stopped at one of the Kangaroos off capital.

Now anyone who lives around here, all know that not the nicest people go into that gas station. And as a woman, you feel the need to cover up completely just so some of the men will not look you up and down and stare at you and wink and make obscene comments. Well I figured I was pretty safe that day, because it was cold so I was pretty bundled up. I go into the gas station, and thankfully no one else was in there except the cashier. She says all bright and cheery, "Good Morning" I of course say good morning back, and then go about my business trying to decide which energy drink I would like to purchase. Alright no problem, I decide that under my current circumstances I need a triple red bull. Well I go up to the counter to pay for it, and this lady is so perky. She is asking me how I am doing. She tells me she is doing wonderful. She accidentally knocks the scanner off the counter, and she says, "oops. sorry, the scanner must be drunk." This makes me laugh. Her good mood and perkiness and kindness really brought a smile to my face. I left thinking, wow I don't know if I could be that nice working in that gas station at seven in the morning.

Well fast forward to Tuesday morning. I was planning on going Monday night to the store to get some energy drinks for the rest of the week, but my memory has not been so good as of late! So I get up and get ready quickly so that I have time to run to the Teeter across the street to get a energy drink before I meet with Kari and CP. Okay so I go to the Teeter, it took me forever to find the red bull. The aisle marked "energy drinks" didn't have any energy drinks on them. Well unless you consider Gatorade an energy drink, but whatever. I finally found what I needed on one of those end stands. Well, some of you may know that the Teeter only has self checkout open that early in the morning. Well the guy at the self checkout was all cheery, and like "Hi! How are you doing today?" And I just looked at him like he was insane for being this perky that early in the morning, and I responded with, "Fine" And he continued to be just as nice and cheery as the lady at the gas station the day before.

Now my point in all this is to ask the question, "How in the world can people be so nice that early in the morning?" I'm not mean that early, but I am certainly not Ms. Cheery. When I worked at Starbucks I was, but I usually had two shots of espresso before we opened. I know some people are just morning people, but seriously!

My other point is that little things make a difference. Just smiling at someone and asking how they are doing can brighten their day. I know both of these random cashiers helped me to smile early in the morning. My day started off much more pleasantly because of them. If a smile and a how are you can help brighten someones day, just imagine what writing a sweet, pleasant email or letter to a friend would do. Or telling the ones you love how much they truly mean to you. In the end, it's a whole bunch of little things added up that make the big things! So take time to do the little things. Try to brighten someones day. Check up on people. Smile at the people you pass. Be there for a friend in need. Make someone cookies. These are not hard things to do. The little things are what count!