3rd May 2012

By secretlondon123 (originally posted to Flickr as Polling station) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

From here

Everything tried to go wrong today, and yet all is well. Yes, I feel quite good. Ok, in reality no major problems, just a number of minor hassles which could easily have left me feeling frustrated. But didn’t. In fact the opposite happened, I feel like a success! So the day began, as usual, around 6.30am when I remember stirring as my son prepared for work. I simply rolled over and the next thing I knew it was almost 10am, not part of the plan at all as I’d intended to progress my hall redecoration. Ah well, I had a blinding headache and more than usual exhaustion with CFS, so no harm done. Painkillers shifted the headache, but not the fatigue. Nonetheless, I persevered and eventually managed a thirty minute decorating effort. I decided to get some air and go vote in the local polls. Another 15 minutes and I gave up looking for my voting card thinking I’ll just turn up at the station. The sign outside informed that it was no longer in use, and that details would be found on my voting card. Of course, that meant an extended trek around Allestree to uncover where I was registered. That was fine, even in the rain, and the funny thing is that everyone I met and spoke to smiled in the friendliest of ways. That made me feel good, though to be honest it seems to happen a lot. I wonder sometimes what it is about me that almost has folk burst out laughing when they see me. Is it my new found long hair? Am I wearing something a bit wrong? Whatever it is, it’s worth it just to make people happy! The polling clerk at the Catholic Church takes the prize for the biggest smile of the day, though I had a room full of people chuckling at my little jokes in the local pub voting station.

I like making people happy, for me one of life’s great rewards is to go through the day leaving as many as possible with a smile on their faces. I love to chat to supermarket checkout girls and guys, though the youngsters must think I’m strange, and it’s great to throw a friendly comment towards a random passer-by… on one occasion I even ended up praying for an older lady who was really struggling to walk. Yes I did offer to carry her shopping as well! I often have fun at ticket offices and basically anyone who comes within range is a target. National Trust staff who are tied to a room are a particular favourite. I learnt to talk to strangers whilst working in sales for almost thirty years; but I have to say I’m much happier giving away smiles than working the tangled web of financial advice.

Numbers 6:25 ^‘May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.’ (NLT)