Live an Exclamatory Life!

Ever have a status quo day? You know the kind, where everything is repeated from the day before. Same wake-up time, same morning meal, same work tasks to complete during the day.

Leave work. Pick up kids. Make dinner. Bedtime.

Same.

Same.

Same.

While there is comfortable familiarity in the repetition, the monotony might eat you alive.

Live an exclamatory life!

Each of us has the ability to live an exclamatory life. It’s a choice I make each day and you can, too! We simply need to look for opportunities to shine, to make a difference, to share our kindness with others.

Living an exclamatory life has no boundaries. Introverted, Extroverted, personality doesn’t matter – YOU have the ability to overcome the dreariness of the day by making a choice to be amazing.

I live an exclamatory life!

It’s true! I speak in heightened syllabic parameter (which, quite possibly may not even be a real phrase, but it feels right.) I am excited about EVERYTHING! I even end many of my sentences with an overused exclamation point! See?

While your level of engagement may not be as vocal as mine, you are not chained to live a dull, status-quo life. You have purpose for greatness!

Yesterday I had an after-school training scheduled with a teacher at a nearby school in my district. The date has been on the calendar for weeks and I arrived with extra time to spare. As I was gathering my materials from my car, I noticed two men walking towards me, trying to get my attention.

“Ma’am? Can you help us? We need a jump.”

I looked beyond them and saw a stationary pick-up truck, doors open and hood lifted. While they appeared to be in genuine need of assistance, I was tempted by the responses that so easily filled my head.

I don’t want to be late for my training.

I shouldn’t help strange men I don’t know.

I don’t have jumper cables.

I don’t have time.

I can’t.

I won’t.

The status quo me could have easily turned away and gone about my business, bustling along with the same agenda I had set, no thought for anyone else but myself. After all, that would have been much easier than the inconvenience of an unexpected delay. There was only one problem with that logic.

I am not a status-quo person. I am exclamatory!

I smiled at the two men and said I would help. I moved my car closer to their truck where jumper cables sat idle, waiting for the kindness of a Good Samaritan.

It didn’t take long to get their truck rumbling again. One of the gentlemen noticed I had a loose bolt and offered to tighten it for me. Ahhhh… the rewards of being in the right place, at the right time. A random act of kindness win-win.

We thanked each other with smiles and appreciation then parted ways. I entered the school building and walked towards the teacher’s classroom for the scheduled training.

Then came the irony.

The training had been cancelled.

I didn’t even need to be there.

Sometimes we go about our daily duties and never notice the importance of those little whispers on our heart. What if I hadn’t left early? What if someone had told me the training was cancelled? What if I led a life of fear? What if I simply didn’t care?

Would the two men have found someone else to jump-start their truck. Probably. Who am I to think my little random act of kindness really makes a difference in anyone’s life? Surely someone else will help, right?

But what if they don’t?

Stop doubting your impact on others. Live an exclamatory life! Look for the good in the world. Open your eyes and see how your words, actions, even your smile, can transform someone else’s day. While the act of kindness you share with another may seem like “no big deal” to you, it could very well be the one thing that transforms someone else’s day from status-quo to exclamatory!

And, if you happen to see this truck driving around town, give them a nod or a kind word. They deserve an extra shot of kindness – and you do, too!