My mom was a stickler about putting a smile on our faces. Sometimes, teenagers aren't the best at doing that. I had gotten up early and readied myself for the day. When I was younger, mornings were the worst time of the whole day, as far as I was concerned. I came down the hallway and into the kitchen area of our home. "Good morning, son." That was a normal greeting from my mom. My return greeting must have been horrible. She kindly invited me to go back to my room and find a smile. I thought that was a strange request and I think I brushed her off. "Go back to your room and put a smile on your face. The world doesn't want to see you without a smile on your face." She was dead serious. I returned back down the hallway to my bedroom and closed the door. I didn't feel like I was unhappy and I didn't completely understand why my mom felt so strongly about this.
I understand her way of thinking now. There is so much good in our lives.
I was in the grocery store two days ago and I passed a woman in one of the aisles. As we passed each other I looked at her and she looked at me. We were complete strangers but with a smile on her face she said hello. Her smile meant a lot to me even though I didn't know who she was. As I finished my shopping I paid close attention to the rest of the people that I passed. There are very few people who smile.
These days I am a 'morning person' because I get up early each morning to go to work. Most of the people I work with do not like how the early morning makes them feel. On Wednesday of this week, I decided that I would put a theory to the test. My plan was to pleasantly say good morning to the people on my immediate team and see how they would respond to that. Most of my teammates uttered a positive good morning in return but there were a couple of people who growled. Many of you know the growl I'm talking about. Some of you are probably some of the growlers. I burst out laughing because I couldn't believe it. I thought about my mom and I gained a greater understanding of why she said what she did.
My mom had a lot of wisdom when she told me to find a smile. I pass on to you what my mom said to me many years ago. Evaluate your life and look at all of the reasons why a smile on your face is appropriate. My life is very rich but the woman in the store, just two days ago, touched my heart because she smiled. Let's try to be the same way!
