Back in April, my sister visited. It was during that visit that she uttered the most fantastic pair of words I’ve heard in quite some time.

My companion was leaving, and just before the door closed my sis opened her mouth and out tumbled, “Spread joy!” Just like that. “Spread joy!” Like the average person says “Have a good day!”

The substitute send off far exceeded the status of substitute– it was, in fact, an altogether elevated goodbye greeting.

It must have been the way she said it, too, that caused me to react with such surprised delight at  the phrase she had just pronounced. Who says that, after all? It was effortless, entirely unpremeditated and therefore devoid of any sense of being contrived.

In those two words she had delivered a sort of gift, one that has been with me ever since; a reminder of the fact that when we go out into the world, we have an unparalleled opportunity to not merely go about our business, but to bless those we have personal dealings with and those we encounter in passing with our own good energy. We can purposefully funnel joy into the universe, and every little bit counts, after all.

Unbeknownst to her, I’ve adopted her send off as my own. I go around all, “spread joy!” And you know what? Saying it unto others activates it unto self.

Give it a try.

Image credit: Framboise Fashion