Put your hand up

All of last week I was interviewing for doctor of pharmacy programs. It was quite hectic without even considering the amount of school I was missing. The interviews went as well as I could have hoped for, but I wanted to share a "non interview" related experience I had this previous week. My interview at East Tennessee State University had gone on for an hour more than I thought it would and I only had three hours to make a 2 1/2 hour drive to a school out in rural Virginia for my next interview. I had my mapquest directions in hand, and that was about it. My cell phone reception discontinued before I even left the freeway. I got off the freeway onto a "state highway," and knew I was going to have problems finding the place. As I continued on, the "highway" became more and more narrow and less and less... well, pavement. It eventually became a dirt highway and narrow enough to where if a car would have been coming from the opposite direction, one of us would have had to have stopped and put it in reverse for a while. It was getting pretty near my interview time and there was nothing in sight aside from coal mines and seeminly never ending rolling hills. I saw a truck stopped in the road a little ways a head so I stopped and asked if I was going in the right direction. I was dressed in my white shirt and tie for my interview and the "fella" looked at me like it was the first time he had ever seen such a combination. He looked puzzled for a moment and told me I could in fact get to where I was needing to go if I continued on but added that it was a long ways a way and that the roads were pretty bad. I had only 20 minutes left before my interview so I went as fast on that narrow mountain road as I could go. There were no signs so I had to do a lot of guessing, and that method concluded with me wandering into a completely different state. Ooops. By this point I was getting rather frustrated. I had pretty much been lost for the past three hours, without cell phone reception and there were no road signs or signs of civilization for that matter. After another hour of what ended up being aimless wandering I decided to miss my interview altogether and head back the way I came and spend the night in Tennessee. Again, I was pretty frustrated. Heck, I'll even go as far as to say I was mad. I was mad that it was so rural. Mad that there were no signs whatsoever. Mad that people would actually want to live out there. I was even mad at the fact I was so absurdly lost in a state that voted for Obama! I was definitely searching for things to be mad at, and I was filling my bag full of things! As I was in this morbid state of mind I approached a man while driving. He was in front of his very humble dwelling going about his own business. I was driving a Toyota Corolla, and since it wasn't a truck was a dead give away I wasn't from around the area. Even still, the humble man turned towards me as I drove, smiled and waived at me. It was such a simple gesture. He probably didn't even think anything of it. I waived back and before I was even able to put my hand back down, I had a feeling of peace overwhelm me. Attitude is such an imporant aspect of life, and I was quite literally amazed at how big of an impact that simple smile and waive had on my attitude. I was no longer angry. If anything I felt a little foolish for having let it come to anger. Applying this into a greater context, if we will but expend a small amount of energy and smile at those that walk by, or if we're willing to so much as waive... I submit that such small and simple acts can have a profound effect upon those around us. After all, the smallest act is greater than the best intention.