17 November 2018 — Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella

This line from a very old song is in my head today for some reason. And that ‘reason’ is not too hard to ascertain. Today I feel very far from smiling, I seem to have woken up angry and discontented and a little depressed. Yes, I have my neck in a brace and it is quite painful and yes. I am still in mourning but LIFE DOES GO ON and I have the choice to make the best of today, and look for the good things in life and be grateful for being alive, OR, I can bemoan the fact that I am still alive and find fault with everything that happens even relatively positive occurrences through denial or wanting more.

I have also noticed that I tend NOT to look straight ahead when I’m in this kind of mood thereby not acknowledging passers by and, as the energy I am giving out is not good passers by will wish to pass by me very quickly. This is the opposite response to when my energy is good and I’m walking along full of the joys of spring then I notice passers by tend to smile at me, I smile back and we both feel uplifted.

And, of course, deliberately making the effort to smile even though the rational mind wishes to grumble and feel sorry for itself, is one way of bringing THE POINT OF POWER IN THE MOMENT back into our lives. When we let a ‘smile be our umbrella’ we shield ourselves from the rain of negativity.