Smile.

My mother taught me at a young age that you never know what kind of an influence you can have on someone's day...by simply smiling. And even when I'm having the worst day, I try my best to do just that. On a good day, I try to take it a step further and throw in a compliment to a complete stranger, just to see them smile and know that I made them happy...if only for a minute. I guess that's why I don't understand why other people can be so mean. I know I can be overly sensitive, but I just don't understand why people go out of their way to bring you down - either with a comment or a dirty look. It baffles me. I realize that many of you will say they're judging or simply jealous, but I still don't get it. There will always be someone who's prettier than you, richer than you, smarter than you... So think of others before yourself and smile anyway. You never know who's watching. :)

I wrote this blog on my Myspace page last October and read it occasionally to remind myself to do just that: smile. This has been a wonderful year, but it's also been a difficult one... I'm 30 years old, yet so naive. I've somehow ended up the focus of a great deal of animosity and deceit from people I barely even know...and it's shown me the dark side of human nature. My initial reaction has been to shut down, to break down emotionally and to move as far away from that negative energy as possible...even if the negative energy is inadvertently around the people I love. But I realize that's not the answer. The answer is to embrace the positive, to show the positive, to show God's love through my love for others - regardless of their animosity or hatred toward me. 

"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned, forgive, and ye shall be forgiven."
~Luke 6:37~

The message is: "Live as Jesus did. Learn how to transcend negativity and stay serene, no matter what is happening around you. This device will teach how to stop reacting to the outside world and lead a more spiritual and compassionate life."

**originally posted September 4, 2007