Warm Fuzzy Wednesday

I couldn't resist sharing two things that I recently found that just made me smile. They reminded me that everybody, no matter who they are, deserves, needs and ENJOYS a little kindness and friendliness from time to time. Even the grumpiest people!

This pic is from November - a friend JUST sent it to me.

It was from the Girls on the Run 5K.
Me and Christina, one of my spin student's daughters.
I LOVE this pic - makes me smile. ;)

This post seems to be especially appropriate today for me because spin this morning was one of the best classes I felt I've taught in awhile. Then again, teaching it seems to just get better all the time. My students are AMAZING. They inspire me. Today I REALLY challenged them to push harder than ever; to keep pedaling even though their legs were burning; to bring their heart rates up and keep the cadence high in spite of it all.

They rose to the occasion. I could tell JUST how focused they were when one of my students, after I wished everybody a Happy Valentine's Day, said "awww, no theme for the music, huh?" I said "Actually...I DID have a theme - didn't you notice they were all 'love' songs?" She had this look of wonderment and slowly came to the realization that I was right. I laughed and smiled and said "I'm guess you were SO focused and SO in the zone you weren't paying attention, that is AWESOME!"

There is something about my morning class at the Y. We joke and laugh and at the same time, when it's time to buckle down and focus and push hard, they give it 110%. Most of them aren't athletes outside the gym but they are there to work and be healthy. They're there, every day when they Y opens at 5:30 a.m., committed to themselves. I think it's wonderful.

So, to add to the warm fuzzies, I've got two brilliant things to share:

1) Article from today's SF Chronicle: SF General Hospital Honors 48-year Volunteer
You can read the full article from the link above, but here's a snippet to make you go read more:

Every week for 48 years, the 82-year-old Russian Hill resident - the hospital's longest-serving volunteer - has filled a shopping chart with curlers, hair dryers, hair spray, savers, shaving cream, scissors, towels, a pink mirror and a big, black smock. And every week, she's wheeled the cart down the institutional hallways, stopping whenever a patient needs a new 'do.

Vidal Sassoon she is not. She never had any training before taking on the volunteer position and said she doesn't bother keeping up with the latest styles. Forget anything fancier than a couple of inches off the bottom.

But for the patients at San Francisco General, many of whom are uninsured and homeless, none of that matters. Tanner is often their only visitor who's not there because it's her job, instead offering them 20 minutes of grooming and chit-chat just because she wants to.

Wow...48 YEARS volunteering!! This woman ROCKS!! And I can only imagine how her 'clients' must feel.


2) The Latest Improv Everywhere Mission: High Five Escalator

Description: For our latest mission, Agent Lathan gave out 2,000 high fives by standing next to a subway escalator (in NYC) during the morning rush. Five additional agents spread out along the adjacent stairs, holding signs that prepared commuters for the upcoming high five fun. Enjoy the video first and then check out the mission report and photos below.I mean, how COOL IS THIS?????

You'll have to read the whole report but the 'agents' wrote about the people's reactions to this whole thing. They went from 'huh' to pretty soon being like 'wow, a high five!' And the 'post high-five glow' they had was apparently great - all these people who are normally very ho-hum and blank-faced on the morning commute (I SO remember that from taking BART to SF every morning...) had these big smiles on their faces and it was so clear that this had really brightened their morning.

I love stuff like this. It's the little things that can really make (or break, even) our days. You never know what a smile to a random person might bring them (or a high five! Everybody loves high fives!). Or sending a card to a friend.

I know I'm being all warm and fuzzy but it IS the week of Valentine's Day AND it's great to be reminded how much random (or not so random) acts of kindness can mean.

Have a GREAT week!