I felt great when I woke up this morning. We went through the normal morning routine at the Searby house with no tears and no screaming, which was amazing in itself. I waited at the bus stop with the kids, and took off for my morning run when they loaded up (as is my habit when I’m home). It was a gorgeous day – sunny and cool – perfect weather for my scheduled long run of the week…but it turned out to be “one of those days.”

Any recreational runner has had ‘one of those days’ when you just don’t feel like running. Every time I came to a road I had to cross, the traffic was buzzing and I had to come to a complete stop and break my stride. A mile in I had to take a restroom break. At mile 3 I got a side stitch and slowed down so I could take some deep breaths until it passed. It seemed like nothing was going right with this morning run.

Around the 3 1/2 mile mark, it happened. Another runner, coming towards me on the greenway near my house approached and we passed each other. It took a tenth of a second for her to smile and say ‘good morning,’ and it saved my run. Just as I was starting to talk myself into walking the rest of the way home, a smile and a greeting lifted my spirits just enough to keep me going. The second half of my run got better and better with every step. I passed 3 other runners and gave each of them a smile and a ‘good morning’ and finished my run relatively close to my target time.

Life throws “one of those days” at us sometimes as well. Maybe we’re not in sync with our spouse or the kids are in a difficult stage. Perhaps work has become challenging or a friendship is strained and we don’t know how to repair it. This morning it only took a smile and two words to change my mindset about my run and turn the outcome around. I’m sure that my fellow runner who gave me that lift had no idea the mental battle going on between my ears at the time. Similarly, I don’t have any idea what is happening in the lives of most of the people I interact with on a daily basis; the cool thing is that is doesn’t matter. We all have the power to save “one of those days” for someone with a smile, a kind word, genuine listening, or a simple ‘good morning.’ I’m going make sure I don’t miss a chance today to make a save.