Smile

Smile is the most contagious disease. One person smiles then the whole group of people smile. People use to ask how come I look so young. I don’t look young at all but I often dress myself with a smile.

On my recent trip to Bhutan, I went with a friend. When our guide Karma asked how old are we? Of course we let him guess. At the end we had to tell him our age. I was so surprise that my friend said she frequently feels like she is 80 years old and yet she is much younger than me. I felt sorry that she felt that way. I am a bit shy to admit I feel like I am still a 16 year old on the inside. I have to laugh out loud. Sigh…

In Bhutan, I have seen many beautiful smiles from the young to old generation of this country. They don’t look well off but they seem happy. Karma told us: “This country promotes inner happiness, not being materialistic.” I also observed people in Vietnam. They don’t smile. Instead their faces express sadness, anxious, stress and unfriendliness. I remembered back in 2008 I went to Vietnam with a group of Westerners. One commented how come he said hello and smile to the Vietnamese’s, and they didn’t say hello and smile back to him. He had culture shock because he didn’t receive a smile from people. I asked him to understand the hardship people live in that country. They just could not smile. I asked a Taxi driver why people are so unhappy. He said because they want too much and they are never satisfied. In comparison Vietnam is much advance and well off than Bhutan but their people are not as happy as the Bhutanese. Hmmm… This makes us think ….

People call me little sunshine
'cause I often wear a smile
I smile first thing in the morning
'cause it is good to be alive
I smile in any situation
'cause I know good or bad still will pass

It is a disease
It is contagious
Once it gets start, it spreads
It travels fast
It travels wide
A single smile like mine
Could reach any corner of the world
Please start with a smile today
To infect this unhappy world. (To bring hope into this unhappy world)