From the Desk of Dr. Moshe Zloof, Advice of the week for May 27 09

Lighten Up Your Day with ‘Slivers of Empowerment’

By

Dr. Moshe Zloof

Recent research in happiness has shown that statistically most people are happier giving than receiving. Giving does not necessarily mean handing out money or material objects, but can be mental or spiritual giving. I am sure many of you have experienced the elated feeling when mentoring and empowering someone, watching the positive effect it has on them, be it your children, your students, or your employees.

Empowerment need not only be a long term process. We can all lighten up our daily lives by throwing ‘slivers of empowerment’ at every person we meet, a friend, a cashier, a waitress, people we encounter on planes, or on the hiking trail. In MindVisualizertm we refer to this process as turning a neutral and boring event (depicted by a small blue ball) into a positive sometimes even exciting one (depicted by a yellow ball); that may lighten up your moment and the moment of the receiver.

Advice: To lighten up your day you should be constantly aware of people around you and always be ready to approach them to brighten their day. It’s the little things in life that make the difference. Some examples of what I've done:

• If a cashier in the supermarket is fast, tell him how impressed you are with their speed, thus positively affecting the pride in his job.
• If a waitress is doing a great job, praise her in front of her boss. In my case I pick a small black book (that I always carry) and I scribble her name in it declaring that she earned to be the waitress of the month!
• I always try to compliment people on their appearance, clothing, hair style, demeanor, posture etc.
• On planes, or in doctor’s office---instead of reading a magazine or solving Sudoku puzzles —take the opportunity to engage in conversation with people sitting next to you and try to brighten their moment. You will find fascination and learning experience in talking to strangers about their issues, background, culture, passion, etc.

In Short, interacting with people can be a tremendous source of energy and help you ‘color’ your day. Initially you may have make a conscious effort to engage strangers in conversation, but after a while- as it happened to me and others- it will become second nature, ‘hardwired’ into your system.