On my hour and half commute to work, I walk past hundreds of people. People of all races, shapes, sizes, ethnicities and origins. Everyone looks and acts so different, but most share one thing; a missing smile on their face.
Yes, it's 8:00am and you are about to board an over-crowded train, with your body being so squished that there isn't even space for an ant. Sure, that may not be the kind of thought that leaves people smiling... but what about everything else in life?
I can certainly speak for myself, that sometimes we get so caught up in our world and the things around us that we consider unjust that we forget to appreciate what we do have. We spend so much time focusing on what is missing, that we forget to recognise what already is there.
I have a dear friend that within a few weeks of finding out her dad wasn't doing so well, she lost the man she considered a shinning-light in her life and example. A year on, I have never seen this friend of mine miserable. I am always left without words around her.
While I'm busy complaining that things didn't necessarily go the way I planned, she sits graciously next to me with a comprehensive smile. When I finally manage to accept the minute 'problem' in my life and ask how she is doing, she smiles and says she all is well. Again, I'm left speechless. Not one inch of a complaint, not a look of misery or suffering. How can someone who experienced such a loss be at such peace with life?
In our lives, we all experience less good moments. We experience times that challenge us to our very core and make us re-think everything. This, however, doesn't mean we have to become sad individuals. In-fact, it's for the very opposite. It these opportunities that allow us to grow and evolve.
Like my friend who learnt to smile through the grieving, we can all learn to smile. A simple smile can change everything, from the way we feel to the way we perceive life. After-all, if life isn't where you want it to be, smile, because only you have the power to change it.
:)
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