I’m sure that you have heard the phrase “Smile and the whole world smiles with you”
Do you believe it ?
Seriously, when was the last time that this happened to you ?
To be honest, it doesn’t happen as frequently as I would like it. Those that know me, will understand this. As I’m usually always smiling. It’s my disposition. I am usually fairly happy about most things. Do I get depressed and down on the world… Well of curse I do, I have all the same emotions as you too. Sometimes I just need to not feel happy for a change. It’s usually short lived and I revert to the state that I feel best in. Is it addictive to feel happy? I think so. Just ask Allison.
I know there are those times when its just easier to paste on a coat hanger than to reveal what is really going on under the surface. I totally understand those times. I have a friend that once told me… “Emotions are messy”. I would have to agree with them on that one. Getting embroiled in someone’s emotional state can be a torrent of indecipherable and unpredictable emotions. But I divert from the topic at hand.
So those of you who know me or understand my work/life balance understand that I spend a fair amount of time away from home. For some of you, you won’t really understand the rational or understand how it can be done. I think it takes a certain type of individual to do what I do. I’m not saying I’m better than you, I’m just saying that I have a different approach or a different set of circumstances for work and life. If you understand the lifestyle, you’ll also understand that I usually have long periods of solitude. I like to think that my childhood conditioned me to this. See I’m an only child, and as such I didn’t have the ‘pleasure’ of siblings. I use the term loosely as some will say they are now best friends with their siblings, others, well let’s just say they are on the other side of the scale, and pretty much everything in between. Regardless, I didn’t have siblings, so it left me with plenty of time to think. Don’t ask me what exactly I think about, it’s usually all over the map. I think that solitude has helped me to focus, focus on the things that are troubling me, letting me tackle the tough issues head on, helped me to focus on understanding who I am… And helped me focus on what I’ve become and the person inside my skin. I used the term helped, like it was past tense, when in fact it’s both past and future tense. I’m sure that in the future I’ll still use the time to focus on issues and to further grow. Some of the best solitude periods I can recollect are those on a plane. I have a number of photos of clouds… yes, me looking down at them. There is something that is mesmerizing about looking down at clouds, like watching waves wash into the beach or watching a camp fire. I think you can get my point.
So you’re probably thinking, what does all this have to do with smiling and being happy with the world ? Well, here are my thoughts on this… I smile because I am truly a happy person. I’m grateful for what I have and all the opportunities that have been given to me. But most importantly, I like who I’ve become and I’m comfortable with what I see when I look in the mirror. Obviously, I can look in the mirror and find fault, but instead of looking for the fault, I try to look for the ways I can improve.
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Are you happy with the person you’ve become ? do you look for the faults or are you comfortable in your skin? Do you look at ways that you can be a better person ? What do you see ?
Happy ? or !