Not many smiles out there today. It's raining but not in a teeming, soaking way but even though it's Friday, I'm not seeing any smiling out there on the street.
Why I wonder are so many people looking morose and unhappy? I feel like asking them What's your problem?
People tell you a lot about themselves even without speaking. The way they dress, they way they carry themselves, where they sit when they choose a chair among several that are available, whether they make eye contact with others in the room and a myriad of other clues they transmit through their demeanor.
I find though that when people speak to each other, a whole interesting new world opens up to you as you meet this new person. I find people surprisingly forthcoming and generally pretty friendly. Sometimes you are both waiting for service or your turn in line or in an office. You might start a conversation just to pass the time, but often before long you learn a lot about the other person and they about you.
Today I was waiting for a medical appointment and spoke to a woman next to me who had wisely brought a book to read, whereas I had not. She had 6 tests recently and was patient and fairly calm and composed that she was having her symptoms investigated thoroughly. I later listened to two women both on their laptops discussing what seemed to be some questions from a philosophy course.
A little later, in the hour before I would be seen, I met a man and his wife who had recently left their jobs, moved from larger premises and had careers in technology and stock brokers. It turned out that the man and I had worked for one of the same firms years before. He wanted to write and had published a newsletter in the past, so might actually write again. At 24 he had a serious traffic accident where the car rolled over and over and it seems also off of an overpass. Now 40 years later, here we both were, still living.
There was of course, more interaction between the man, his wife and myself in the time we waited for our appointments but, as you can see above, several subjects were discussed in the course of our conversation together.
I have been thinking today, about what kind of life we would choose, were we to know how long we had left. When the man was 24, the accident seemed to have been a pretty horrific one, yet here he was 40 years later. His father meanwhile, lived till 84 and like so many people that enjoyed a longer life, smoke and drank and seemed to have lived a better life than many people I know.
Despite a stroke, he seemed to be doing well, his wife obviously loved and cared for him and both seemed to be happy together and about life in general. Like so many of us, life was changing and they were changing with it.
I am now determined that whatever problem I may think I have, obviously visible or not, I can decide that I, at least, will use my day better than I might have. Like you, I don't know how much more time I have to waste, not being as happy as I know I can be. I say this because I have decided that even if I am the only one I may see some days with a smile on my face, I will have been happier for one day more of my life than I would otherwise have been, had I not decided to consciously do something about making my life better...now.
Also published on Word Press April 2014
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