Dare 9

Love makes good impressions.  How do we greet people we know and don’t know?  How do we greet people we like & don’t like?

Our greeting is our first chance to make an good impression.  I’ve never really thought about this before, but now that I’m thinking about it and observing myself I have to admit I greet people differently depending on who they are and if I know them or not or like them or not.  The book states that being godly includes being humble and gracious enough to address even our enemies with kindness.

I don’t think I have any enemies, at least none that I know of ,but if I do encounter someone who may not like me I’m sure I would greet them politely anyway.  It’s funny, last night I did run into someone from my past and I couldn’t remember where I knew them from initially, but we greeted each other, conversed for a minute then went on to talk with other people.  Well as the night went on I remembered where I knew him from and that we had had a disagreement the last time we talked.  Though it was nothing major, at the time we both thought it was.  Anyway the point is, time past, we both moved on and forgot about the incident.  Holding a grudge would not have served either of us.  We greeted each other as if nothing had happened and went on to have a pleasant evening.

As I go through my day it is amazing how easy it is to make someone’s day with a friendly ‘hello’ and a smile. I know for me, when someone communicates that they are glad to see me, my personal sense of self-worth increases.  I feel more important and valued. a good greeting sets the stage for positive and healthy interactions and can even heal past bad impressions.

So think about how you greet people and make someone’s day.

Until next time…