Have you ever changed your behaviour according to another person's comment? Maybe you felt it made sense and you were wrong all along? Maybe you didn't, but I certainly have.
The value of your smile
When I was a little kid, I used to smile everywhere I went. I believed that we could spread happiness and love by giving smiles. Even when people were facing challenging times, I believed they could still feel loved and seen if they only got a smile, even if it was from a stranger.
An unknown author once wrote:
A smile costs nothing, but gives much. It enriches those who receive it, without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it, and none is too poor but that he can be made rich by it. A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in business, and is the countersign of friendship. It brings rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it is nature’s best antidote for trouble. Yet, it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile as much as he who has no more to give.
A smile wiped off by a grocery store girl
One day, my mom and I went to the grocery store and a girl told her mom if I would smile once more, my face would crack. This was painful, but not as much as the lie I began to tell myself. I wanted to make sense of what happened and the more I thought about it, the more I assumed that I wasn’t allowed to be happy while other people were suffering. I started to focus on all the sadness in the world and became really depressed. I felt guilty whenever good things happened to me, because I knew others were going through tough times. A feeling anxiety snuck up to me as I felt powerless in the pain others were experiencing.
I understand now that the girl and her mom at the grocery store may have gone through a tough time. Maybe they needed love and unconditional acceptance and the girl responded the only way she knew how.
Lesson learnt: I allowed someone who was in pain to dictate my behaviour and identity.
Everyone goes through good times and not so good times. Sometimes we fall, but then we get up again, sometimes with the help of another.
The truth is, if we place our perspective on what others say about us, we may never be happy.
An act of kindness
An act of kindness brings forth a fulfilling and inspiring love, a joy that sparks hope and faith for tomorrow.
My challenge to you this week, is to give your smiles away and be authentic, even if others don't always understand you.
If this message meant something to you, please pay it forward and share it with someone else.