What Is In a Smile?

Good morning everyone! Hope your Monday  started off great! This morning I had a little oatmeal with a spoonful of walnuts in it, an apple, and a bottle of water (yes I said water) and I'm ready to go! I was reading different blogs this morning and so many of them made me smile as I read them. As I was deciding what I wanted to write about this morning, it hit me.....smiling...what is in a smile? Have you ever thought about all the wonderful things a smile can do? Think about it...

You usually smile when you're happy. But what does it take to make us happy? Is it because someone gives us something we wanted, or maybe we get to buy something we found that we like or that we've had our eye on? Well, that can be a good reason to catch ourself smiling. It always makes us feel good to be able to do that. But what if we aren't able to do that? Are we the type person that is just as content to be able to "window shop", see things we like but aren't able to get, but instead, we can smile simply because we are enjoying our day being out and being physcially able to walk around and do that? You see, my Mother, in the last couple of years of her life, was not able to get out and do that. Oh she without a doubt, loved to shop and look around but she was one of those people that didn't have to always buy things to make her happy. She had a SMILE on her face because she was thankful to get to be out just browsing. When she was no longer able to do that, she missed it very much, but she still kept that pretty smile...

Do you smile because you have a wonderful companion? A husband or wife that truely makes you happy in every way? Oh I don't mean they are perfect..no one is perfect on this earth, but someone who really loves you, enjoys being with you, you have fun with, laugh with, cry with, comfort each other, have the occasional arguement with each other (lol), support each other, always respect each other in every way, trust each other, and know that they will always be there for you, no matter what comes, thick and thin.......now that makes us smile huh? I'm smiling right now...

Do you smile when you think of your children? The funny things they do, the not so funny things they do (lol), the love you feel from them, the hugs you get from them, and their smiles? This should be another reason to smile....just knowing you are blessed with your children...

But have you ever noticed all the sad faces you come in contact with when you're walking down the street? I look at people's expressions, when they're sitting in traffic, walking down the road, walking through the mall, standing in line somewhere.....so many sad, lost faces...some with no expression at all... Have you ever tried just smiling at them? When your eyes meet their eyes, do you smile? Or do you just glance away and keep going? Now I know that everyone you smile at is not going to respond with a smile, but you would be amazed at how many people will!! Believe me, I do it all the time! I try to smile at people constantly....not because I'm just always giddy and happy, but because a true genuine smile from one person to another, can brighten someone's day! I love when people smile at me!

We have a true, real reason to smile if we are breathing, walking, talking, hearing, seeing, feeling God's love, and even if we don't have all these functions I just listed, we still have a reason to smile if we are blessed to wake up in the morning! There are things in all our lives that hurt us, make us feel sad, or feel like nothing's going right. But on those days that I feel that way, and maybe I don't feel like smiling, it seems to lift me up when someone else smiles at me. When someone will make that extra effort to care enough to smile at me! So with that being said, I will do my best to do that for someone else! A SMILE is worth more than you think.....and goes a lot further than you think!! So just for an experiment this week, why don't you try smiling to at least 10 people a day, and see what happens....watch close and see their reaction... Some may just keep that sad or mad look on their face, but I bet you at least half of them will smile back. And in the process, you might just brighten their day, or lift a heavy load they might be carrying in their heart. It's worth a try...don't you think? Go ahead.....I challenge you to do this....just this week....see what happens... I would love to hear back from you and have you tell me what you discovered..... The choice is yours....SMILE!!!