Behind Every Smile Lies A Dark Cloud.

PROLOGUE

Have you ever seen a bird flying without wings or have you seen a building with its roof as its foundation? I assume your answer is as good as mine because we are in a world governed by law and order, where everything that happens follows a particular pattern or manner. It may interest you to know that everything we see happening today in our world has a connection or it’s a replica of the past.

This is the reason why we must see the world with the mindset of a baby. Children are known for their innocence and purity of heart, which is why you will see a child trying to put his finger in a burning flame. He believes that nothing can harm him because he is yet to understand that he is no longer hidden inside the sack in the womb. Now, what happens is that once he puts his finger in the fire and he feels the pain, he will never want to play with the fire again.

Children are not only gifts from God they are also the lamp with which we can see tomorrow. How we treat a child will surely affect the way and level of affection he will develop for others around him. It is worthy of note that children are the purest of lovers because, once a child falls in love with you either because of how you make him laugh whenever you come around or because of unsolicited gifts which you shower him with, he will never stop loving you even when you scold him. He may distance himself from you after you must have scolded him but as soon as he gets over it, he will still come to you. Their hearts and minds are so pure that they can never think of vengeance no matter the kind of hurt you may have caused them. They are best described as living angels of our time.

Why did I choose to start this article in this form?

I guess some of you will be pondering over this question and to understand why I choose to introduce this article in this way. The reason is not far-fetched. I went to visit a friend of mine in his family house and unknowingly for me, his grandmother whom I later found out to be 96 years of age was setting in front of the house. Something very spectacular happened and this event caught my attention. As I was approaching the doorway, I noticed that the old woman was full of smile as if I was doing something funny or as if she knew who was coming. Mind you, that day was my first day of seeing her because I found out she has been in one of her children’s house before coming back to the family house.

I moved closer with a lot of thoughts running through my mind at that moment because I did not know how to go about the fact that she was smiling at me. Out of courtesy, I started smiling too and when I got to where she was seated, she looked up and said to me “you will always look better with a smile on your face”.

I was completely dumbfounded because while I was coming to the house, some frustrated guy tried to share his frustration with me and somehow I did not know that what he did got me so much that my face was all frowned. To be frank, I was so pissed when the guy matched on my well-polished black shoe without raising an eye as though he did not notice what he did. My anger grew when I could his attention to what he did and he turned and just looked at me without saying a word and continued walking. I could not understand the meaning of what he did because every sensible person could have just said “I’m sorry” or something pleasant as a way of apology but this young man just looked at me and kept on walking.

Why do we allow others to control our feeling

Before I left my house that afternoon to visit my friend, I was very happy after going through a project I have been working on for the past three weeks. Sincerely speaking, I felt like a burden was lifted off my shoulders and this made me so happy which was why I decided to visit my friend in a bid to share the good news with him, little did I know that I was going to lose hold of my new found happiness. Now, so many times we find ourselves battling with anger and frustration that other people must have caused us.

The truth is that we have the power to either allow others to control how we feel or not and as humans, it will be in our best interest to live above anger especially those caused by others. That young man’s action stole my happiness and little did I know that it was very glaring for anyone who cared to see, that was why my friend's grandmother noticed.

The Lesson I learnt

When my friend’s grandmother made that statement (“you will always look better with a smile on your face”), I was seriously taken aback and this made me ask her what she meant by the statement. She looked at me and smiled then she said “smiling makes even the ugliest person beautiful and it will keep you looking young always”. At this point, I did not know what to respond to because I was trying to understand why she will think I am ugly even though it is a known fact that I am a very handsome guy. As I was thinking these things in my heart, she looked at me again and said “everybody has a dark cloud of anger, frustration or even uncertainty beneath their smile, we all must try to carry ours with dignity through smiling”. 

It was at this point that I grabbed all that she has been trying to teach me within the shortest of time. I must confess, I fell in love with her sincerity of heart because she was able to notice that I was angry which made me frown on my face even though she has never seen me before that day.

As you go about your business, do not let others control you emotionally because we all have our hidden displeasures which we should carry with a smiling face at all times. Remember the life of a child and try to adopt their method of handling issues when it comes to anger. Life will be better and easier if we can be able to smile at all times without minding the circumstances and situations we find ourselves in.

I love you all please stay safe covid19 is real.    

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