It is not often that I find a smile stealing up upon me. Obsessive thoughts are like cobwebs creeping up over my heart and obscuring my mind. My positivity was like gnats struggling in that deep cobweb of doubt. I often lost myself in what ifs and what could have beens as thoughts replayed in my head.
How did I lose this simple delighting in a capacity for happiness and is this phenomenon something that only I experienced? Looking around at the glum faces around me in the MRT tells me no, I am not the only one suffering from lack of optimism.
My iphone tells me i spend 6 hours on my phone on average. I sometimes look up when I’m on the MRT just to observe people. Do people smile more than I do? Am I below the national smile average? These are just thoughts that are in jest.
I started to smile more often, actively curving my lips as I recall a pleasant memory of my day. At first, I wasnt used to it. My smiles seemed unnatural and my lips felt strained.
I started this cycle of pleasant emoting incrementally by making my day a non zero one. A small action or positive affirmation could summon my authentic natural smile. I compounded that effect like a daisy chain. I strove to do more positive actions, small but impactful things like pouring a friend a glass of water, giving up my train seat for others, lending a helping hand to others etc.
Rising early, doing a microchore, going for a walk in nature, relaxing intentionally, practicing eyegility exercises, smiling for myself and not at others are all ways I strive to do good for myself. Smiling for myself and being kind to myself, feeling good about a small positive event or action makes me feel good.
This pile of good thoughts adds up. And as I noticed, every time that at the end of the day, my mind felt relaxed and less tense. I begun to discover this positive daisy chain had a profound effect on my interactions with others. I woke up more often than not feeling happier.
The relationships with my peers deepened and solidified as my happiness contagion spread to them. My interactions were more heartfelt and from a place deep within my heart that they could sense and reciprocated with overtures in kind. I was liking this version of myself much more and my friends were evidently feeling the same way.
Never stop smiling and feeling grateful for the gift of a new day.
Never lose sight that we were put on this green earth to do good and feel good. Spreading smiles and positivity is what we should be embodying in our secondary goals in order to lift each others up as fellow human beings. If everyone smiled more, the world would be a vastly happier place for it.
The Asian Opinion 