Last Friday, May 31st, was National Smile Day. Perfect timing, don’t you think? Because it seems as if we’re all in a bad, bad, terrible, horrible mood. Nevertheless, I decided to participate in Smile Day by taking the dog for a wander. It was cloudy, but it wasn’t raining, so that alone was reason enough to skip outside and whoop it up.
Everything’s in bloom. The trees, the flowers, everywhere you look the world is bursting with color. Plus, it’s 
finally warm enough for shorts. So, naturally, a smile popped onto my face without any effort and we happily trekked around the city. As we crossed a street, bathed in the bright, approving glow of the ‘Walk’ sign, a car barreled around the corner — a clear failure to yield violation — and the driver shouted ‘f**k you’ out her rolled down window as I leaped toward safety.
Okay, was the foul-mouthed hostility necessary? And on National Smile Day?
I try and I try and I try to maintain a positive attitude, I really do, but it’s getting harder almost by the hour. I did a slow burn the whole rest of the way home, muttering and sputtering and trying my level best to put a curse on the lunatic driver. But what good did it do me? None. It just made my newly black mood worse.
Seriously, what is there to smile about these days? We’re experiencing a rapid, precipitous decline in manners and common decency. It’s like Lord of the Flies, the population is losing all sense of civility.
After I calmed down, though, I realized there are still plenty of good things, actually. There’s ice cream, sunshine, fluffy socks, hot showers, Aretha, Saturdays, books, lots and lots of happy stuff. Fun stuff. Comforting stuff. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m still pretty steamed, still harboring unkind thoughts, but I’m also perfectly content here in my happy place, parked behind my computer monitor. With coffee. And the dog.
And a kick-ass set of headphones.
Copyright © 2019 the whirly girl
the whirly girl 
10 responses to “: what do we have to smile about? :”
Omg i love this. I struggle with positivity too. This is so relateable
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Thank you❣️
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Why why why do some people fling out hatred every which way without thinking? Such a bummer 😞
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What cheeses me is, they keep moving. I want to mouth off, too 🤷🏻♀️
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yeah..I think he did…he says don’t listen to the news. As the sideshow man says, it’s all fake anyway (by that I mean edited/angled to suit the people publishing it)….and interestingly…it’s all almost pretty much the same, decade after decade after decade. If ur as old as me, you’ll note that there has always been news of murder, rape, child abuse, psychopathic leaders, corruption, war in the Middle East, war in somewhere else, population explosion, airplane hi-jacking, environmental catastrophe (the bible reports of droughts, plagues and more wars etc)….so, that being the standard, white noise wallpaper of the world, the only sane thing to do is add to the world’s happiness by focusing on the good immediately around you and lingeringly appreciating it…keeping it in focus at all times. If we are cheerful, we will literally spread cheer. You will always see/hear the wallpaper buzzing in the distance….but with your actual immediate focus on the great fortune that it is to be living in the developed world, in the richest country in the world, to be always warm enough and fed enough and protected enough, with clean running water to your door and access to the world’s best healthcare; on the constant availability of a lovely hot shower, or Netflix, or warm bedding, a safe place to live, or the generally sane attitude to the education and well-being of women (as opposed to say, somewhere where fgm is the norm), and all the truly great improvements there’s been to everyone’s lives across the entire world (there are non-newsworthy stats to prove this); you might see that there is much to be glad about. The newspaper sellers know that only the unusual news is news…and that it sells newspapers. But we don’t have to be slaves to that noise…the noise will happen anyway…we can choose what we focus on….and that might just be the beauty and sheer amazingness all around us, silently and unassumingly being beautiful and amazing. Oh dear. Sorry for the long answer. Short answer is he says don’t listen to the news. jx
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Thank you for such a thoughtful response. This was amazing and useful and encouraging and hopeful and true! So I will follow your advice and stay away from the news and focus on happy. You’re the best 🤗
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I have this quote from a chap called Dr. William Defoore stuck on my fridge door: “What you see depends on what you are looking for. Look for what is good, right and working, and that is what you will see.” …I’m always looking in the fridge for chocolate… but i never see it. I do see the wrapper tho, so he’s right, the good stuff was actually there.
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Did he, by any chance, mention anything about what we hear? That’s what I find most bothersome. 🤐
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Kick-ass headphones? Are you sure you’re wearing them right?
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😂 You’re my hero❣️
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