Today my day has started wonderfully and I can’t help but sit here with a big fat grin on my face. On our way to nursery, Molly and I walked passed the fire station and I asked her what noise the fire engines made. Her response? “FLOWER! FLOWER!” I couldn’t understand her logic and I tried to correct her but she was adamant that she was right (as always) and she then proceeded to tell me that “the ‘flower men’ go in their ‘flower engines’ to water the ‘flowers’ so they don’t get sad”! I think my heart has officially melted and I am now full of the joys of spring and feeling very much in love with life.
I then checked my email to find a lovely message from my work BFF telling me that he liked my blog. When I say he is my work BFF, I met him at my work Christmas party (we work in a shared office space and he works on a different floor), I instantly declared our friendship status after falling in love with his green woolly jumper (I have a slight obsession with green, and woolly jumpers, which makes for an excellent combination of favorites). Anyway, having just met my new friend I was keen to show him my dance moves so (in my leather pencil skirt and 5 inch stilettos) I knew that the most appropriate dance move would be ‘The Worm’. It was actually more ‘Beached Whale’ than ‘Worm’ and the Office Manager did end up marching over to tell me to get up off the floor but I just put that down to jealousy. I am good at using my arms when I dance. ‘Funky Chicken’ springs to mind. Basically, any dance move with an animal in the title is a winner in my eyes. I should invent some, maybe ‘The Leaping Leopard’ or ‘The Cartwheeling Cat’? I shall let you know how I get on.
I have actually only met my work BFF twice, the second time I met him (yesterday) I told him about my blog and he took the time to give me some feedback which I am very grateful for. It’s not just him, I have had messages from childhood friends and strangers in the same position as me and it almost seems like we have this little connection because we know that we are not on our own. Just because we weren’t very good at the relationships that created our children, doesn’t mean that we won’t be very good at raising our children. The little acknowledgements or gestures that may seem small to some mean the world to others and whether it is just a smile or holding the door open for someone, to going out of your way to send a message, it is these little things that make other people happy. Yes of course there are other main factors in the key to happiness but I truly believe that if we start with the little things it helps us cope with the bigger things. You never know how someone is feeling inside, more often than not, the unhappiest people disguise their feelings with smiles so you could be doing more than just ‘being polite’, you could be helping others appreciate their worth.
So, take note of all those little comments and gestures that make you smile which will eventually become treasured memories, and remember that no matter how bad you think your day is going… you will never get this day back, so don’t waste it. Life is too short to worry, or be grumpy, or sad, or miserable, so pay it forward. Smile, and the whole world will smile with you.
Please note: Despite writing a blog on ‘smiling’, I actually have a daughter who hates cameras, so here are some seemingly expressionless photographs of her to make you question her happiness!!
The Adventures of A Part Time Parent 