Beautiful Beliefs 3

I believe ...

 life is better when you laugh.

I like laughing.  All kinds from a small giggle, to a loud chuckle, right through to an enormous heart warming, shoulder shaking, uncontrollable laugh when you find it hard to catch your breath and your face aches.  It makes me feel good and brightens my day.

Lots of things make me laugh.  When something funny takes me by surprise,  Remembering fun I've had with my friends.   Rewatching sitcoms I have seen many times and laughing with anticipation for what I know is coming next.  Seeing comedians live on stage or on tv.  Giggling over a private joke with a friend.  Walking into the wind on a blustery day.  Watching the waggiest dog in the world do his little hopeful dance whilst waiting to go for a walk or get a treat.  Just a few small insights and by no means an exhaustive list.  

I like hearing others genuinely laugh out loud, it makes me smile.  Sometimes their laugh makes me laugh.   I don't need to know what is funny, I feel privileged that I have been able to share a little of their joy.  

A few weeks ago there was a minor yoghurt explosion in my class at school.  A boy had a yoghurt tube that was proving to be difficult to open.  With great effort he managed to prize the top off and in the process  squirted the yoghurt, with great force, out of the tube and all over his face and clothes. I have taught many children who would have been deeply upset or embarrassed by this.  He was not.  He laughed. He laughed very loudly.  His friends laughed. I laughed. He didn't mind at all.  He just found it all incredibly funny and rightly so. He still giggles when we mention the exploding yoghurt incident and his reaction to it still makes me smile.

I saw a programme a year or so ago that said on average children laugh up to 300 times a day.  By the time we are adults with busy lives, jobs and other responsibilities we laugh on average a measly 15 times a day.  I think it is high time we rejoined the children and see the funny side of life.  

Laugh.  It is joyful and it is allowed!

(This post is linked to Amy Palko's Beautiful Beliefs Project)

A Smile

Today I was reading some of my earlier posts and discovered I had mentioned one of my favourite poems and said I might post it at a later date.   Here it is.

Smiling is infectious,
You catch it like the flu.
When someone smiled at me today
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner
And someone saw my grin,
When he smiled I realised
I'd passed it on to him!
I thought about that smile
and then I realised it's worth,
A little smile, just like mine,
Could travel round the earth!
So if you feel a smile begin
Don't leave it undetected.
Let's start an epidemic quick
and get the world infected!

                                  Anon


Happy smiling everybody!

Beautiful Beliefs 1

I believe that ...

being polite and having generally good manners is important.  Saying please and thank you seems to be going out of fashion which saddens me.

From being very small we were encouraged and expected to use these simple phrases in our everyday lives.  Being polite was and IS important.  These simple words make a huge difference to how we perceive others and to how we are perceived.

At a dance rehearsal recently I assisted a young man (aged about 11ish I think) with his costume. I held onto his masks and cape so they were ready when he needed them and assisted him when he managed to get a huge knot in his cape tie.  He was delightful and charming and at every given opportunity he said thank you to me (and with a huge smile) and when his co-star was struggling he came and said please could I help her, which, of course, I did. 

This shouldn't have been so out of the ordinary but it was. I noticed it because it was unusual.  I had helped several children that day, he was the only one who consistently said please and thank you and is someone I would not hesitate to help again.

When shopping the other day I was in the queue behind an older gentleman.  He had finished putting his shopping on the conveyor belt so had (as I would do) put the "next customer please" sign behind his shopping.  I said "Thank you".  He turned and looked at me, genuinely surprised by this response, smiled a huge smile and said "You're welcome." I smiled back and continued to put up my shopping. As he left he smiled at me, nodded and said "Goodbye". I reciprocated.   This was a very minor exchange, nothing in the great scheme of conversation, but both of us had our tedious shopping trips brightened by politeness and manners. 

What an easy, cost free way to bring a little joy and make someone smile.

(This is linked to Amy Palko's Beautiful Beliefs project)

Something different

This is a whole new thing for me.  Just getting started really and thought I'd say hello!

Many changes have happened in my life recently - some I like, some I don't - but I have been shoved into doing lots of things differently.  Well, "A change is as good as a rest" we are led to believe.  (I am still reserving judgement on that).

I am a fan of smiling (and laughing).   They are infectious and ought to be spread by as many people as possible. The smile poem is one of my favourites, I might just post it another time.

I am also a fan of manners and politeness - please and thank you cost nothing and mean a great deal.  We shouldn't appear surprised when people say thank you, however I am increasingly aware that people seem to be confused when strangers thank them for simple everyday acts of kindness.

Anyway, that's enough for now I think. I have at least made a start on my new venture.   
Bye for now.  Speak to you soon!