REMIND

I bought this little wooden block with the words "smile often" painted on it when we were in Punta Gorda, Florida last year.  At the time I thought I was overpaying for it, but now I disagree.  I thought it was cute, and a reminder of the good times we had while on the trip, but now it has become so much more.

A simple little piece of wood is now a daily reminder of what I have to smile for.

There are the big things, like my health, my husband, and my kids, family, and friends.

There is the sunshine outside my window.

There is the empty sink in my kitchen.

There is the bubble bath I came home to after work last night.

It is so extremely easy to hover from day to day caught up in the things we hate to deal with.

It can't be easy to remember to smile when there are hundreds of things we all could frown about.

I can remember when I was younger and I'd make stupid faces my Mom/Grandma/Aunts would tell me my face would get stuck that way.  If I smile enough can it get stuck that way too?

Sometimes I really don't want to smile.  I want to be frustrated or hurt or angry.

And I see this little block sitting on the mirrored shelf in my kitchen.

Instantly my day is just a little less horrible, and if I just force myself to smile it sort of just creeps back in anyway.  I don't have to have a perfect day to smile.

I don't even need a good day to smile.

I just need to remind myself that I have the choice to do so.