S.M.I.L.E. Right Now

I'm looking for a pony-tail holder to get the hair out of my face for my workout, and I find a $5 Super Target discount card instead. I want to be upset because I just took the kids shopping yesterday and I could have used it.........but then I smile, because I imagine giving it to the kids on Date Night with Dad this week for a trip to get ice cream.

Yesterday morning I was getting annoyed because I misplaced my water bottle cap. To be fair, I had already been up for hours and had just finished 6,000 lines of lesson planning for science, and was physically and mentally drained....... but then I smiled, because it was this effort that created 13 "A's", 3 "B's", 2 "C's", 1 "D", and only 2 "F's" on Friday's reading test, and I knew lives were changing.

Yesterday afternoon I was looking for a D battery for an experiment to do today at school. I KNEW I had one and part of me started to get frustrated........but then I smiled, because I found my water bottle top I had been looking for earlier.

When we got back from the store Bella dropped a bag of sugar in some water in the sink. I really felt myself getting uptight because every dollar counts and I wanted to vent by lecturing, preaching or complaining about how she should be more careful. But then I smiled, because my daughter counting more to me than money made me realize she's already telling herself to be more careful, and doesn't need me implying that she's bad or wrong and that her self-esteem isn't worth a bag of sugar to me.

And then I smiled some more, as together we saved as much of it as we could, and she thanked me for not getting upset with her and started singing as she walked away.

And I smiled even more when she came back in asking me for the red cup on the top shelf so she could get a drink. I smiled because that's the cup I finished putting the sugar in, and when she looked in it her grin was as wide as mine, seeing the humor in a situation that could easily have gone the other way. And as I turned to finish the dishes, she wrapped her small arms around me and gave me a GIANT hug! And I smiled Big Time!

Finally, as I was putting the dishes away and opened the silverware drawer, laughter ran up and down the inside of my entire body, as I saw the D battery I had been looking for earlier. I don't know why I or the kids put it in there, but it didn't matter. I am so far from perfect that I find humor in it, so much so that some criticize me for not taking things more seriously. I smile when I say I don't care what others think of me, I care what others think of themselves.

And I care what I think of myself. My life isn't "perfect", but it IS........because in this imperfect life I smile much more than I frown, and most of those I interact with do too, which makes for one fun and exciting day after another.

I'm excited to wake up and challenge my fears to create my ideal life. I'm excited to work out and strengthen my body so it can keep up with my spirit. I'm excited to study and be more enlightened than I was the day before. I'm excited to teach and elevate the hearts and minds of my students.

I'm excited to overcome challenges and solve problems in a way that makes the world a better place to live. I'm excited to dream my biggest dreams and willing to become more in order to get them. I'm excited to see my kids and feel the most precious, powerful, and life-sustaining emotion of all.....love.

And I'm so tired from all this excitement during the day that I'm excited to go to bed. It may not be heaven, but it feels heavenly to crawl into those cool sheets and wrap my arms around those big pillows.

I find myself filled with such an excitement for living, laughing and loving that it comes back to me in such an abundance I can't help but give it away to others.

Positivity has as much momentum as negativity, where you feel you're overwhelmed, out of control, and just can't help yourself from saying and doing hurtful and destructive things to yourself and others you later wished you hadn't.

When you continually focus on the good, the powerful, and the positive.....you can't help but find the laughter and love in nearly every daily experience.....and you find yourself saying and doing loving and constructive things you're glad you did, and you feel so alive because of it!

I still haven't found a pony-tail holder (maybe I should borrow Bella's monkey), but I can feel her arms wrapped around me again right now, and I am smiling!

This may not be the perfect acronym, but it's perfect for now:

S.M.I.L.E. Right Now...................because Something that really Matters in Life Exists Right Now............In this Very Moment

Let it make you smile