In a world where everything is fake all too often, try to be real. I have noticed now more than ever just how little authenticity is left in this world.

Pay attention and you’ll see it too. Listen to the conversations around you. To the small talk that floods hallways and offices. You can hear it in the tone, in the inflections of the voice. And for me personally, it makes me cringe. That aimless chatter isn’t always fun, but it can sure be more real.

It makes you wonder who is really a truly nice person. Is anyone? Or is everyone just playing a part, acting through their days as if they are happy to be here or happy to be talking to you.

I don’t think we give each other enough time of day. We are little individualistic creatures scurrying along from place to place, through different combinations of four walls without much thought. We’re in too much of a hurry, never stopping to truly take in the scene around us. Stop. Breathe. And pay attention to your five senses. What can you see? What can you hear? What can you smell? What can touch? What can you taste?

We all need to practice being more present. More in the moment, because it’s all we really have. That person you just joyfully said, “Hello!” and “How are you doing?” to may be going through the worst of the worst times. Or he or she could be an angel in disguise who could help you in the blink of an eye if you’d just for once look up and realize they are there. We brush people off, but we don’t even realize it because we think that others cannot see through our facade of “niceness.”

See, there’s a difference between being nice and being kind. Nice can be faked, kind cannot. Kind is displayed in your every move, deliberate and subconscious. Before you even open your mouth, people know and understand whom you are more than you might think. Or maybe it is just my own intuition which allows me to gather these bits of information.

But regardless, take some time. Take more time with those that you may not be noticing. Every human on this planet needs love, and when you display it in a fake way, it’s worse than not saying anything at all. Unless you do not genuinely care about the conversation you are having, don’t have it. And if you want to learn to care more, then practice it. It will transform your life and make you feel a sense of fulfillment and connectedness you never have before.

I’m done with acting like I care about how someone’s day is going. Because now, I will actually care about how their day is going. I will follow up with them later that day, later that week. A simple text or call speaks volumes. I challenge everyone else to do the same. I think we’re all a bit more lonely than others may think we are given what they gather from our social media. Even the person who may seem like they have all the friends in the world, really don’t.

So start looking up a little more. At people’s faces, and at the emotion that lies in their little laugh lines. And maybe you’ll find new people entering your circle, that you can share in those laughs with through this journey of life.