Just Say Hi
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Change Your Habits, Change Your Life
By Brenda Leppington

Be the first to say, “Hello.”
~H. Jackson Brown Jr.

When I retired, I knew there were some people from work whom I would miss, but I never anticipated how much I would miss just the casual “hi” when I saw someone in the hallway. Retirement did give me more time to connect with friends and family, but I could also go days without speaking to anyone. And I had developed a bad habit over the years: I hadn’t gotten to know my neighbours. It takes so little to say “hi” or to just give a friendly wave, but I hadn’t been doing that.

I knew the neighbours directly beside me but didn’t expand much beyond that. Then, one day, I noticed that the neighbours across the alley had trimmed their hedges to a point where you could see in their backyard. I never knew who lived there before, but now I could see a young couple and their teenage son. They were often sitting outside, and I started to wave at them as I drove by. They waved back. (Keep reading)