Have a Nice Life Project

February 21, 2008

About two weeks ago I spent some time out west, taking a road trip that started in San Francisco (flying in via Philadelphia where I live) and worked up the pacific coast to Washington state.

It was a great trip, and during it I got to thinking quite a bit about different things.

One of those things that particularly struck me was how I was driving through endless remote locations that I would probably never see again in my life. Or if I did see those locations again, they’d be years removed down the road when I saw them again.

It was a bit of a sobering thought, and it also made me realize while at one particularly hidden away gas station in a particularly hidden away northern California town of about 1,000 people, that anyone I saw on the trip I would similarly never talk to again—ever.

Not that such a fact is surprising. But I don’t think it’s something we think about too often. Even in the daily grind of our day-to-day lives there are countless people on the streets we’ll never see again or employees at local stores that we don’t regularly frequent that we’ll never meet again or even business connections we’ll make only once and then be done with.

The funny thing is we always say goodbye to these extras in our life the same way: “Have a nice day.”

But, quite honestly, shouldn’t we be saying, “Have a nice life?” I mean, really, I appreciate the Coke and bag of chips and full tank of gas in my car you just rung up at the register, but I’m heading about 500 miles north of here and will likely not be back any time soon.

So what I actually mean to say is: “Thanks. Have a nice life.” I think that’s more of a fit.

The crazy truth, though, is that all these people we meet—these extras in our lives—probably have great stories. They’re probably great people going through extraordinary ordeals with complicated stories. Beautiful stories.

I know service is all about helping others, and it’s frequently given the slant of working with the homeless or volunteering with the elderly or fixing global poverty. But the truth is service can be something simple, too. It can be making connections on a very real level with everyday people—those that both surround us, as well as those we’ll never see again.

And this brings me to my point and my idea for a project.

I’d like to call it the “Have a Nice Life” Project, and the idea was born out of my trip out west. It’s simple really. It’s all about leaving a connection of more than a few words with all the random people we meet on a day-to-day basis. About spreading the love.

The next time you’re somewhere where you meet someone you never expect to see again—ever—try something different. Pause and hand him or her a business card, or buy him or her a little something, or maybe do something completely out of the blue and give him or her a $50 bill. Tell that person it’s for a little something you’re a part of: the “Have a Nice Life" Project. Tell that person that while you may never get to know him or her that you realize we’re all connected and that even something simple will build a bond that otherwise would never have existed.

Not only will it completely change that stranger’s day, it might change the person’s week or even month. Better yet, you might make a friend you never expected.

And can you imagine the smile on that person's face when you walk out of their life forever without the standard "Have a good day" line? That's priceless.

That’s the “Have a Nice Life” Project.

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