Smiles & Stars Do Shine..................

Smiles & Stars distributors

......and exhale! Woke this morning with a smile on my face and deep gratitude in my heart. What started out as my quirky Smiles & Stars idea had become a reality.

We kicked off our adventure yesterday at the mall with a plan to simply share smiles and stars with people...to brighten their day and encourage them to smile at others so they can feel the positive effect they can have on people too!

We walked around together, randomly approaching people and saying something like "hi we're sharing smiles today just to brighten your day and a star to remind you that your smile can brighten other's days too."

Responses were absolutely awesome! There was such a variety...we heard "Gosh Thank You, that is cool" ,  "Oh I smile all the time", "I love smiling", "No really are you selling something?" A couple of people even smelled their star. No joke....thought it may be scented. We noticed a young women taking a picture of her star with her phone, she wanted to post it online. 

Tender moment observed.....we gave a star to an older gentlemen sitting in the food court. He grinned and said he would share it with his wife when she returned. Shortly after I was aware of him handing the star to her, kissed her sweetly and said "you make me smile."

                                              

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This great group of people above really got into it! They eagerly opened the origami star to reveal their message. They proudly displayed their stars and said they would chat about smiles with others...how fun is that?!

We approached one worker at a kiosks in the center of the mall. He seemed to really enjoy our diversion to his day.  He then took us into the store directly in front of him and wanted us to share some of our good cheer with employees there. Eager to join in and sport one of our stars was Shawna.  She was even willing to step out of the store and pose for a quick picture. Thanks Shawna! You are great!  (sorry if I got your name wrong I was so caught up in the fun, things became a blur)

Met this awesome "smiler"! She can join us any time.

We hit all three floors and occasionally passed repeat people. They would look at us, show us their star and say "hey we're still smiling!" It felt great!

It was pretty remarkable, only three people wanted nothing to do with our good cheer..or anything else we may have wanted to say. (thank goodness their car wasn't on fire and we were trying to tell them) Eyes down and "I don't have time" was all we got after we said "hi".  Oh but they still got a smile and a "that's ok, have a great day anyway." Only three out of the 100 +, is a pretty good percentage if you ask me.

The experience/vibe for me was fun, heartfelt, and Christmasy! My take away would have to be the palpable connection we can make with others, however briefly, and the fact that it has the ability to both unite and ignite into something more.  I  learned that the power of holding close the desire to do something for others and then running with it to make it happen with the help of family and friends...really is, reason to SMILE!

**Would love to hear in the comment section below any SMILE stories you may have! Go ahead give it a try. Just click on the word "comment" after this post!