How You Can Be the Hero of Someone Else's Story

You know the saying, “You can be the hero of your own story?”

Well, I had a sort of epiphany the other day: you can also be the hero of someone else’s story.

Weird, huh?

It’s true.

Here’s the story behind my epiphany:

The other day, I had to go grocery shopping. It was what most people would consider to be a fairly nasty day, weather-wise.

It was about 38 degrees, windy, and raining pretty hard. This wasn’t just a drizzle.

I got to the store to find that most of the rest of my community had decided to also go shopping, and there were no parking spots close to the door. I was going to have to walk quite a ways through the cold rain. The night before had not been a good one, sleep-wise. I was tired. I had a headache. I wasn’t really in the best mood.

It was at this moment that I was faced with the first set of decisions on my quest: complain and try to stay dry, or just embrace the fact that I was going to get wet.

I decided for something in between, a sort of happy dash from my car to the door of the store.

I did my grocery shopping swiftly, with no notable side-quests, and a while later I was back at the door with my very full shopping cart, staring out at the rain, which had not abated in the slightest.

And here I found myself faced with this same decision.

It was at this moment that I found myself grinning and laughing at myself in a bit of mild reproof.

I love rain.

I love cold weather.

Moving to Wisconsin was, after all, an answer to a whole lot of prayers. And so what if it May was supposed to be more Spring-like? Why did this even have to be a conscious decision? Where was my sense of adventure?

And so I strode through the doors and out into the driving rain and whipping wind like a knight on a sacred quest. In my vivid imagination, my hair whipped about in the wind and I moved in slow motion like a water-bender.

In reality, my hair got plastered down around my face and impeded my vision slightly for a few steps.

I tilted my head back and let the cold rain pour over my face and laughed into the storm. I strode to my car as stately as a queen, lifted the tailgate to shelter some of my groceries a bit from getting damaged, and loaded my car. Then I closed the hatch, gave the basket a running push, and jumped onto it like a child, riding it to the cart corral with reckless abandon.

As I hopped off, I saw an older gentleman coming my way, pushing his own cart through the rain to the far ends of the galaxy where we had both been forced to find less desirable parking spots.

Our eyes met as I hopped off the cart.

I gave him the biggest, most real grin I had.

And he transformed.

His eyes lit up. His shoulders straightened. He smiled back at me like we were sharing the best joke in the world… and then we moved on. He to his car. Me to mine.

And as I climbed into my truck… my heart broke and I started sobbing.

Because that simple smile had clearly changed his day. And I thought to myself, how? How could a smile have changed someone else’s day so much? How could such a brief encounter mean so much? But it did. We didn’t speak a single word to each other, but the smile we exchanged was real and the results were visible.

And it made me realize how much time we spend ignoring each other. How much time and how much human connection the “year that shall not be mentioned” stole from us. We got used to not seeing each other’s faces. We got used to not being able to read each other’s expressions. And so we got used to not trying. We got used to not meeting eyes.

But we can change that.

Since that encounter, this shy, introverted author has been making a concerted effort to meet the eyes of strangers when I’m out and about on my various adventures… grocery shopping, filling up my car, grabbing fast food, out for a walk in my neighborhood… and smiling.

It’s amazing how much it continues to visibly alter every person I encounter.

So here’s my summer challenge to you: be the hero of someone else’s story. Meet a stranger’s eyes and smile.

And if you’re already an extravert and want a level-up challenge… use the cashier’s name at the grocery store… they’re wearing a name tag. Use it. (this should go without saying, but use it in a friendly way, with a smile and a “thank you” or a “hope you have a nice rest of your day.”) Watch it brighten their whole day.

And then come back here and tell me how your hero’s quest is going, because I want to hear all about it!

Image found via google and pinterest search at: https://ramblingsoftheclaury.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/everyday-deeds/