Every year in time for Lent I make a decision to do something or give up something special.

I've refrained from coffee, wine, chocolate, even television.

I've said thank you to God in small but meaningful ways. (At least they were meaningful to me.)

But the hardest thing I have ever done for Lent was to smile at everyone I met or casually passed by. Basically, I opened myself up to everyone.

This was surprisingly one of the most rewarding things I have done.

There were plenty of people who didn't smile back or acknowledge me. Even some who regarded me with suspicion. But I kept on.

I smiled at young and old, black and white and every shade of skin in between. I was non discriminating smiler.

The sad thing is that giving a random stranger a warm smile is a vanishing act.

As we zero in on our cell phones and I-pads we stop looking up. We no longer look a person in the eye, nor is there that human connection. We are losing our ability to empathize. And that is scary.

As for me, I'll try to smile at as many people as I can. Some will smile back and some won't. But I'll do it not just for their sakes but for my own.