By Habu Dawaki
Some
of the best sets of people that teach us about life are children. Among other
things, children are known for their innocence, simplicity, purity of heart,
frankness, spirit of forgiveness, genuineness, receptivity, trust, dependence,
curiosity, energy, enthusiasm, of, wonder, open-mindedness and teachability.
Children seem to know how to love and enjoy life rather than endure it. They
appear to always have time to still play, sing, smile and laugh. A closer look
at children reveals that they have no stress, high blood pressure and so on. I
believe this is partly because they worry less. If they ever have problems at
all, they simply hand them over to someone bigger than them. This could be
their parents, guardians, teachers, aunts, or uncles, just to mention a few. I
think children have an understanding that carrying all our burdens alone is
destructive and injurious to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
well-being.
It
is said that the average child laughs about 400 times a day but adults hardly
laugh four times a day maybe because of the burden they carry. The truth is
until you walk light you will never think right or enjoy life. Sadly, we have many
people walking on the streets of life today carrying heavy loads and burdens
when the creator has enjoined us to cast all our cares on Him. In the times we
live, it is pertinent that we learn to lighten our cargoes on the one who is
greater than us since He holds the whole world in His hands.
Sometimes,
I wonder why people you think everything is going on well with them wear a
frown. Some of them look comfortable, rich, privileged and successful on the
outside yet put on expressions that betray all that. The question is, is it
possible to have “everything” and still live a dull, weary, monotonous and
miserable life? Of course, you and I know that life is not about what you have
but what you do with what you have. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance
of what he has”. If property and toys are the only things that make people
happy, the world will probably be empty of smiles because only a few will have
them in their purse. I agree with Tom Ledding who said, “The happiest people
don’t always have the best of everything, they make the best of what they
have”.
Dale
Carnegie said, “Happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have, it
depends solely on what you think”. Abraham Lincoln must have discovered a
secret about this life that in spite of all the troubles, tragedies, failures
and difficulties he passed through, declared,
“I
laugh because I must not weep”. That is probably what Mary Bolton meant when
she wrote, “when the going gets tough, the tough starts laughing”.
This
to me means that there is something about laughter that eases the tensions,
frictions, and pressures of life thus soothing and diminishing our pains and
lifting our souls to the realms of joy, hope and confidence. Chuck Swindoll
said, “Of all the things God created, I am often grateful He created laughter.”
Laughter
is a gift from God. It is amazing what it can do to your mind, emotions, spirit
and your entire body. A wise man once said, “A cheerful heart is good medicine
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones”. Medical science has proved that
laughter reduces blood pressure, increases respiration, fills lungs deeply with
oxygen, increases circulation, relaxes deep muscles, relieves muscle tension,
releases endorphins, strengthens killer T-cells to resist infection, digestion
and promotes relaxation. According to John Mason, “A laugh a day keeps negative
people away”.
Laughter
is one medicine that is inexpensive. It has no unpleasant taste and no
side-effects. To laugh is to cheer up, to liven up, to sparkle, to enjoy and
have fun, and to let joy bubble in your world. But someone may ask, how does
one laugh in the midst of challenges and trying times?
Certainly,
there are times you wake up on the wrong side of life. I am talking about those
moments of your life when everything looks wonderful and promising yesterday
but wrong today. Those times when your whole world seems to be turning upside
down with little or no solution in sight. Anytime you come to some of those
roughest moments of your life, a little laughter could do.
I
have come to discover that the easiest way to let joy bubble out of your life
to your world is to keep your hope alive. Hope gives you the stamina and energy
to endure the present no matter how painful. Hope tells you the sun might have
set but it shall rise again. It reminds you that every ending is a new
beginning, and every exit is also an entrance and that the future will be
better than today. 1f you can look at the morrow from a positive perspective,
you can smile at the future. Laughter is a smile that bursts. If you can choose
to smile over rather than mourn your predicament, you will ultimately enjoy the
better life. No matter what is going on in your life, your world will always
look brighter behind a smile. The good thing about a smile is that everybody
has it therefore it does not cost much to manufacture. You can produce one even
now.
Friends,
life is too short to live in gloom and depression. It takes only life to enjoy
life. Better, therefore, learn to enjoy it now while you have it because there
is plenty of time to be dead. The best you can get from your world with a frown
is sympathy. A frown has never made anybody attractive. When everything goes
wrong as they sometimes do, rather than get angry, live with hatred, malice,
jealousy, prejudice, envy and depression, learn to laugh. Living your life on
the side of frustration can only add to your wrinkles. Remember, problems don’t
last forever.
It
doesn’t matter where you are. A lifetime of joy is a possibility if you know
what to do with what you have. You may be financially broke or lacking some
things, but nobody ever really gets broke with a smile. Your smile is an asset
but one of your greatest liabilities is a frown. Do you know that it takes 72
muscles to frown and only 14 muscles to smile? You don’t have to waste that
energy anymore. Do not imprison your life and short-cut your destiny with
misery and discontentment. Your smile is a total package of your positive
personality. It has the power to increase goodwill, magnetize favours and attracts
patronage and benevolence. It stimulates the best of emotions from others. A
smile doesn’t just make you feel good and better, it makes others around you
feel happy, welcome and special thus making you a contributor. A smile has the
power to melt away defenses and to turn an enemy into a friend. A smile is a
universal language loved and understood by all. It builds bridges of love,
care, compassion, understanding, trust, goodwill and confidence between you and
your world.
Zig-Zagler
said, “The most destitute person in the world is the one without a smile”. A
man who doesn’t wear a smile is a poor man no matter what he possesses. Indeed
an old adage said, “You are not fully dressed until you wear a smile”. “The
expression you wear on your face” according to Dale Carnegie, “is far more
important than the clothes you wear on your back”.
People
may not remember the dress you wear but they will remember your smiles. You can
make anybody’s day by just giving a smile away. Remember, there is no greater
joy in life than making other people happy. To keep your smiles to yourself is
to do a disservice to yourself and to your world. In case you woke up with a
frown this morning, and you have not found something to smile about, it’s not
too late to start practicing now against tomorrow. 1f you can only learn to
smile and give your frown a rest, you will live the rest of your life laughing
and enjoying the ride to your destiny. Think of this, you lose sixty seconds of
joy and happiness for every frown you wear for a minute.
John
Mason said, “An optimist laughs to forget, the pessimist forgets to laugh”. if
you have nothing to offer your world, you can at least give it your smile. It
takes only a smile to brighten every dark day.
An
Irishman once wrote,
Take
time to work - it is the price of success
Take
time to think
- it is the
source of power
Take
time to play
- it is the
secret of youth
Take
time to read
- it is the
secret of wisdom
Take
time to be friendly - it is the road to happiness
Take
time to dream
- it’s hitching
your wagon to a star
Take
time to laugh
- it’s the music
of the soul.
Have
a frown-free week.
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