Don’t Worry, Be Happy

I love the idea of today being International Day of Happiness. It really got me thinking about what constitutes happiness and I couldn’t come up with anything except a smile. The fact that Puppy Stan was very much in the mix while I was doing this pondering made me smile even more.

Happiness is …

The song that sings happiness for me is this one from 1988:

So, may I send smiles beaming right across the world today ~ and I hope you’ll take one and pass one on.

The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose. (William Cowper) 

 

 

 

The Dread Storm is Passed …

… and nature is beaming in the January light.

Lipsticked Camellia

May all your storms be short-lived.

How Do We Smile; Let Me Count the Ways

Rainbow Smile

I got an email from a virtual friend the other day and I responded to it by saying that it had made me smile. What I didn’t say was that it had made me smile through tears ~ or what I think of as a rainbow smile.

There are just so many kinds of smiles:

#1. Nervous smile ~ well displayed at job interviews.

#2. Wistful smile ~ waving goodbye to friends as they disappear out of sight in a car or on the train.

#3. Cheeky smile ~ the little guys who come to the door looking for their football that has landed bang in the middle of the rose bed.

#4. Lover’s smile ~ the adoring gaze when eyes meet eyes and lips watch lips

#5. Sympathetic smile ~ makes me think of my father’s smile when he was trying (and failing) to teach me fractions when I was a kid.

#6. Pretend smile ~ that mask we don when we feel we should be smiling and force one onto our faces

#7. Stranger’s Smile ~ the little nod and smile at a stranger as we bid them ‘Good Day.’

#8. Beaming Smile ~ when you radiate happiness, especially on hearing good news.

#9. Eye Smile ~ when twinkling eyes do all the smiling.

#10. Blogger’s smile ~ when you find yourself smiling through the computer screen having read a blog post or a fun-filled comment.

Always remember that Smile also says ‘Miles’ and Smiles certainly can reach across the world like the biggest social bridges imaginable.

Go on, think of all the smiles that I’ve missed and tell me about the smiles that mean the most to you.