“The man who gives little with a smile gives more than the man who gives much with a frown.”
-Jewish Proverb-
There is something to be said for the lessons that our children teach us without us even realizing it. My daughter may just be the most positive and completely optimistic person that I have ever had the pleasure of coming in contact with. She doesn’t like to think of anything in the negative, she doesn’t like to see people upset or crying and she’s so sensitive. However she is also incredibly smart and has a remarkable way of seeing things from a very unique prospective.
Today we were in the car and I had just told her that she couldn’t have something that she kept begging me for. Finally she stopped begging but then when I looked back at her she had a massive frown on her face and looked to be pouting which drives me crazy. When I asked her what she was frowning about, fully prepared to give her one of my “with all of the things you have to be grateful for you’re going to frown over this” speeches, she simply, and with such a positive tone in her voice, replied “I’m not frowning I’m just resting my smile”. What could I say in response to that? She had once again found a way to turn a negative into a positive. The thing is, this isn’t the first time that she’s said this but for some reason I heard it differently today.
My day had been full of nothing but stress and worry about things that I honestly have no immediate control over and I have most likely had a frown on my face all day long and when she said that it really made me think. That’s the attitude we should have as we go through life; always optimistic, turning negatives into positives even when that’s not the true reality. Always resolving to not frown but simply to rest our smiles while the worry passes and the stresses evaporate. Why is it that we can’t grasp a concept that children seem to have mastered?
The thing about children that I love so much is that they see things with such a broader scope, whereas adults seem to have adapted to seeing things with such a narrow view. With us it either is or it isn’t and somehow we miss the possibility in between. I am guilty of losing my optimism when overcome with and beat down by day to day worries and stress. On those days I tend to find the negative in almost anything and it seems as if every moment of the day is some kind of struggle that consumes me. I get so wrapped up in that struggle to get through instead of taking stock of the little blessings that fall somewhere in between those moments. Looking forward I think that when we get worried, when we struggle, when we obsess over the obstacles that we can’t really control, we shouldn’t dwell in the negative. We shouldn’t frown but simply rest our smiles until the storm passes by.
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
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