I’m 8 months pregnant and walking down the subway stairs slowly, dreading my morning commute.
As usual, New Yorkers are on their grind. They shove past me to avoid having the train doors close 1 inch away from their faces after a mad dash to the platform.
I brace myself against the railing and grit my teeth – praying for strength while I silently curse them out.
An older man leaning on his can for support while he lets the crowd pass through, notices my pained expression and whispers “Smile, honey. Life’s not so bad.”
ARGGGGGHHHH! I hate when people say that to me! Smiling is the LAST thing on my mind.
Years of Nigerian home-training about respecting my elders prevent me from uttering the snide remark on the tip of my tongue.
That incident happened years ago, but it really captures my feelings about advice to smile even when you don’t feel like. I mean I get it – life is short, live in the moment, you get to choose how you react to outside conditions – but really, sometimes hearing “don’t worry, be happy” actually makes me feel worse.
This short 6 minute clip changed all that for me. Seriously it will make you smile – a real smile, from deep inside. Let me know what you think in the comments. And if you enjoy it, share the love and pass it around to your circle:-)
7 Comments
What a wonderful woman. And I thought I was joyous! Wow.
So, how has the smiling experiment gone for you so far?
isn’t she inspiring! it’s been helpful. i had a meltdown yesterday but bounced back within 3 hours which is a good record for me:-) i’ve gotten better about surrounding myself with reminders to feel the icky feelings and get them out…then remember it’s never that serious & there’s always something to smile about.
how are you doing with your big launch coming up?
Oooooh. Thank you so much for sharing this. She beams her personal philosophy and mantra with her smile.
It made me think of a bumper sticker:
Make the world a better place. SMILE.
Marsha Stopa´s last blog ..Surprise of Spring Depression
@marsha thanks for stopping by. i LOVE your blog!!! i so needed a winter blues coach when i was living in new york. such a brilliant niche:-)
I loved this post, video, and your blog. I came here via 37 days . . . thank you!
thanks for stopping by lenna:-) your blog is beautiful! is the artwork all yours?
“is the artwork all yours?”
On my blog, yes! Expect on occasion when I might share collaborative work in an altered book project. I do create a lot of mixed media art, thank you ije! I am back to investigate your site more. :^ ) It looks wonderful. The video I found here, via your writing on the 37 days blog is still with me. It is very powerful in a good way! lenna
lenna young andrews´s last blog ..smile
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[...] Checking out of life so often also affected my peace of mind. For one thing, I got so serious! (When did that happen? I used to be such a playful kid…) [...]