Ten Life Lessons I Learned From My Garage Sale

1.  Smiles are contagious - One little boy had a smile from ear to ear when he gave my dog Lola a treat and she put up her paw to shake. He beamed! And so did I.
2.  People don't care if I crazily spent $425 several years ago on a super duper large paper cutter. They only want to spend $25.
3.  If you want to find out some good books to read. Sell books. Book lovers love to talk about their favorite books when browsing yours.
4.  If you place the tables along the path in your flower garden, people linger longer. And only a few people will cut across the plants instead of walk on the path.
5.  Everyone has stories and they like to share them.
6.  It pays to be generous and kind.
7.  Ask a child if they want to have a bake sale/lemonade stand at the same time. People appreciate the snack and cold drink. Last year my friend's daughter sold scones and lemonade to help raise money for her laptop. This year people were disappointed that she wasn't there.
8.  Give something away. I had a bunch of hand fans that I made a while back and gave them away to the people who looked hot.
9.  Wear a hat and sunscreen. I have a sunburn today and probably more wrinkles by tomorrow!
10.The best moments of joy are the little moments. I had the most marvelous time negotiating a price with a 5 year old boy for two large boxes of art pencils - one for him and one for his 3 year old sister. I started to just give them the pencils, but realized that the negotiating was important to this little boy. They carried those boxes out to the car like they were absolute treasures. The five year old was so proud and my heart just spilled over with their joy.