Have you ever stopped and watched faces of people very early in the morning?  Some look like they have just woken up, some like they never went to sleep, some seem to be saying “shoot me now” yet others appear bright and chipper.  We are not all morning people but what makes certain individuals function with a pleasant attitude while others a frown?  Everyone has rough patches, yet the expressions are so different.

In an online article entitled “15 Fascinating Facts about Smiling,” NursingSchools.net communicated that smiling is extremely beneficial for you.  Among other things, it improves your mood, boosts your immune system and helps relieves stress.  In addition, “babies start smiling as newborns.”  Smiling must be a fundamental part of life.  So, when you encounter that jerk on the road that makes you want to jump out of your car and ransack their face, smile and keep driving.  When your teenager starts getting on nerves you did not even know you had, smile before responding.  When you go on an interview, smile, because you seem more “attractive, sociable and confident.”  When your spouse committed an offense you specifically asked them not to do, smile and say, “I still love you.”  When your boss may have seemed unfair to you, smile before you approach him with your case.  And that unnerving employee, do not fire him quite yet, smile first.  In other words, practice smiling in difficult times and maybe life will seem happier amidst your challenges and setbacks.  A circumstance is only as grandiose or minuscule as you make it out to be because you choose the way you interpret it.  Why not improve your perspective and start with a smile?

 Light affects the world and the man who created the light bulb, Thomas Edison, seemingly failed a lot.  But his perspective on his setbacks was, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  Your dream could affect the world.  You can reach it with the help of God (Phil 4:13).

  

The Right Perspective

To Hamel’s address I once listened with intrigue to

An Air Force general, to whom my respect is due

He closed with crystal words that today still are not dead

“Never, never, never give up!” is what he really said

 

To have the right perspective you need not be introspective

For you can walk toward your dream with exterior directive

What you believe today ultimately affects your destiny

Trials now? Tomorrow you will say, “Brought out the best in me”