Welcome to day 1 of 31 Days of Happy! Are you ready for your first assignment?

Head out to your local Starbucks, Target, or Movie Theatre (or any other places that come to mind) and pick up 1-3 $10 gift cards. Put them in your wallet and leave them there. You aren’t going to anything with them today.

As you go through the month of December, remember that they are there, waiting to be shared. Now comes the fun part…look for someone to share them with.

If you are at the mall and you encounter a particularly kind sales person who is going out of their way for you….pull out one of your cards. If you see a mother that has her hands full at the grocery store trying to juggle her kids, her coupons and her sanity…hand her a card.

I promise you…this small gesture will be remember FOREVER. You have the chance to take 10 dollars and 2 minutes and create a moment that will be forever etched in someone’s memory.

I know this is true, because it happened to me.

I was working at a bookstore and a man was in from out of town looking for some books with vivid photography. He staged model homes and needed the books so that he could frame the photos. We did not quite have the book he was looking for, so I called our competitor and asked them if they had it (they did). I then gave him directions and told him to have a great time while he was in Chicago.

About 2 hours later, the man returned to the store with a small bag and said, “Thank you for being so helpful. I really appreciate it.” In the bag was a $10 Starbucks gift card and a small box of chocolates. My co-workers and managers were all wondering why a customer was giving me a gift. He just wanted to say thank you.

That was over 5 years ago.

This month, you can be the person who creates the memory. You can bring happiness to someone who deserves it or needs it.

Today go buy the cards. Tomorrow…share them with a stranger.

Please post your comments on who you shared them with and how they reacted!

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