Have you smiled today?
How is your day? What are your feelings? Tired? Wornout? Wanting a dose of entertainment? At the end of the day, those are the things that stuck around me the most. At least they used to.
Recently I'm reading things about internal peace. You might have been told that things that drive you to disatisfaction stem from your focus on the outside world. Well I suppose there are more than that. Your worries often come from your future goals; your disappointments come from your mistakes in the past; your stress comes from your anger because nobody listens to you; your head are always buzzling with ideas and plans for tomorrow, for next week, for the next few months, for relationships, for work and study. Constantly, you are overload your head with ideas and plans that do not belong to the present.
Give yourself a pat. You have work hard. Think about the present. Or do not think at all. Just observe as your feelings flow in and out. Tell yourself that you deserve peace and happiness and decide to choose happiness. Because it's an option, it's not a goal, not a dream, not a destination. It's your presence.
I know some days it feel really hard to inforce positive affirmations in your mind, when you're stuck in traffic jams with a bunch of angered adults scolding each other for minor stuffs, when your family members become impatient and glare at you for things not turning out as they want, when your friends turned a deaf ears towards you, when you feel lost in a mount of workload. Sometimes, life just feel like too much, right? But you are not forced to be anyone, and you are not compelled to deal with all of those annoyances with a huge laugh. You know, things are not going to be less troubling. Instead, they will get more so. But you are the one who can get happy or sad, you choose how you feel. What an ironic thing to meditate and smile to yourself and feel peace flowing within your vain while you are being glared at during traffic jams by a quick-tempered driver for standing in his way, right? Ironic as it is, that was what I did today. I simply didn't think much of that driver, I was just looking at the beautiful summer sky a few centimeters above his head. Why, under the milky sunset, fluffy white clouds and the romantically pink sky, do people have to look at others hatefully and angrily?
Why yelling? Why fighting? While irrationally beeping when knowing you cannot get any further but just to make some noise and let out your anger? Guys, after 17 years of my life I still don't get why the beautiful Vietnam roads have so many impatient and annoying commuters. Why choosing 5 minutes faster with an additional package of unhappiness and anger for yourself?
Being patient in this kind of society is a hard thing to do. But you know it well that it's an option. And by opting it, you are also opting forgiveness, happiness and peace within yourself. There is a cool saying that I have read in a book :" Sometimes, you have to forgive others. Not because they deserve your forgiveness but because you deserve peace".
So smile more. A genuine smile, I mean. One that can clear the dark sky, one that flows in and out of you like a river and brings with it the energy that can light up others' day. One that turns problems and worries into nothingness. And feel light and free to do so.
12/07/18