Smile?

short inspirational talk.

Far too many things pass us by unnoticed and unappreciated.  We spend so much of our precious time searching for that perfect something just out of our reach, without ever realizing how close at hand it actually is. 

Can we not look into our everyday lives and already see the happiness that we think is somewhere off on the horizon?  Is it not in the simple touch of a loved one, or a kind word shared with a stranger or even in the joy of a well prepared meal?  Right there before our very eyes and taken for granted. 

Sure, its easy to get bogged down by the stressors in our lives -- work, bills, school, family conflict -- even activities designed for entertainment and pleasure can bring us down -- books or movies with sad endings, not quite making the time-mark you were aiming for on that last morning jog, or discovering the ill-health of a friend you've come to visit. 

But in my heart I believe that people need to come to a point where they are able to recognize their own small moments of happineess.  These tiny occurances -- like seeing the first robin of spring,  if noticed, will blossom into an overwhelming sense of sheer exstacy at the very idea of life. 

Taking the small, seemingly insignificant things and letting them be the important parts of the day to share and duplicate throughout your days. 

Only when we, as a mass of people, come to the conclusion that we can be happy with the lives we lead, can this society begin to crawl out of the trenches we've dug for our survival, and start to heal. 

For too many years television and all other walks of media, have portrayed the perfect people and lives that we as consumers are supposed to buy into.  How perfect can something be if it takes years of scripting and planning just to produce one minute of screen time?  But that's just it, life does not happen slowly, over well-planned story-lines.  It is happening now and will always only be now. 

We need to grab a hold of what comes before us in our lives and find the joy that is written between the spaces holding the sadness.  In every situation there is a smile, all you have to do is look for it, and when you get good at finding it, make sure you use it to share with other people. 

Its not the things in life that get us down, its the interaction with other human beings that holds so much of our attention and humans are best known not for their compassion, but instead for their cruelty.  Negative emotions come from negative experiences. 

As a whole, we need to touch that inner place where we already know how to be happy and dust it off or heal the battle wounds from times long past, so that our smiles can shine from the heart and we are strong enough to conquer anything life throws at us.

Have you had your smile today?