Making Everything Fun

I recently went grocery shopping at an unusually busy time of day and by the time I tried to check out, there were a hundred others trying to do the same. There were only 2 check stands open.
 
As you can imagine, the atmosphere was tense and there were lots of cranky faces. I wasn't in a hurry, I make it a point never to be in a hurry and I've noticed that the lines I encounter at the grocery store or the post office never take as long as I imagined they would. With practice, it's easy now to relax and take the opportunity to observe. I'm a bit of a snoop and I enjoy listening to people talk, I like watching how people relate to each other and how they handle these types of situations in particular.

I jumped in line and the woman in front of me had a little boy in her cart. He was sitting among her selections instead of in the cart-seat, so he had a fairly free range of motion. I didn't really notice him until he started throwing a fit about wanting something from the shelves of goodies by the check stands. I wonder how much extra candy they sell that way or if it just adds an another layer of confusing choices to our lives?

Anyway, I try to lend a subtle hand when I can, so when the boy looked at me, I gave my head a quick shake and he stopped screaming and hid from me. Well, that started the game. He peeked out, I made a funny face at him and he laughed, so I pretended to look all around, ignoring him and then mime surprise when I caught him peeking. He laughed and laughed at my antics, he was very responsive and we had a terrific few minutes playing in the check-out line!

In fact, we connected so well that we ended up with a very active kiss throwing episode. As his mother pushed the cart out of the lane heading for the door, that kid and I waved and threw kisses until I had to turn back to my own business of checking out. Which brought me face to face with a cranky checker! Oops. By then I was feeling pretty good so I told the checker how much I appreciated her efforts on such a busy night. She grumbled about missing her break, so I told her how wonderful she was. She chuckled a little, so I told her that, in fact, she was so wonderful, I would gladly wait in line all night just to get her! That made her laugh and we cheerfully finished our business together.

When I glanced at my watch, I realized that my whole wait in line had taken 20 minutes from beginning to end. That 20 minutes could have been spent complaining and getting stressed, but instead I left feeling fabulous! The bottom line? I don't do these types of things for others --- although it's nice to think that others benefit from my happy energy --- I do it for me, for my own joyful amusement.

Life is good when we're having fun, so find a way to make EVERYTHING fun, that's my motto!

(This post is a reprint from my website, www.practicehappiness.com, 2008)