We have a tendency to get caught up in our work, our to-do lists, the urgency of things to come, social media and even the weather. Yes. The weather. Have you ever looked at the weather forecast and singled out a sunny day, thinking to yourself, ‘I am going to the beach that day.’ Or on a day that it is supposed to rain, ‘This is when I will tackle my to-dos.’ C’mon. You know you’ve dome this before.

Well things change, don’t they? The stress of wanting them to happen a certain way causes us to lose sight of the moment. Thus we lose the contentment and joy. Well boo. But the good news is that in every moment of every single day, there is capacity for happiness. This doesn’t mean that we need to be jumping up and down, ecstatic. No. Who the heck wants to live each day with that kind of pending pressure. Not me. And this also doesn’t mean that we aren’t supposed to feel sad and angry. Stress is going to make that happen. It’s inevitable. But we can feel, in some way, any way we like, even in the midst of a storm, a little bit of happiness.

Don’t deny yourself such a beautiful thing. My favorite little ounce of happiness that can happen anytime, anywhere? A smile. It can be a smile on your face or someone else’s or maybe a smile that you feel – on the inside. You know what I mean? That small moment of internal peace that gives you the goosebumps, that causes a ray of sunshine to enter your soul? You know.

The most beautiful part of it all is that we have SO many reasons to smile at any moment. Even if in the present moment you feel stormy and you want to scream (I advise you to do so, maybe into a pillow. Trust me, you’ll feel better.) all you have to do is let it out and think of something to make you smile…

Just think of something that you’re grateful for 🙂

Stormy was the word of my morning. Not only did it describe the weather outside but it also fit my feelings. As I sit here writing this to share with you it is still stormy outside. But I am able to smile as I watch a little bird just live it up in a rain puddle outside – so much, that I am almost tempted to go out and join him. Puddle jumping happens to be very liberating.

Obviously you’ll forget to smile in some moments, because your mind gets caught up in stories about the past, stresses about what might happen in the future. So just remind yourself of what’s happening right now, and see the beauty in it, see the reason to smile. And then smile, externally and internally.

Feel stormy, it’s normal. But don’t forget about the sunshine that is just waiting to break up those clouds.

Smile!

Love.