“I Decided I Would Learn To Smile”

Today I had lunch with my 94-year old friend, “Evelyn”. Evelyn is the sweetest and friendliest lady you could imagine. I met Evelyn when I first moved to the small town where I used to live, and she showed me around, introduced me to people, and just generally made me feel welcome.

Well, today she told me this story. When Evelyn was a teenager, she was standing in line at the movie theater with her sisters. A couple of ladies walked by, and one of them remarked to the other about what pretty hair Evelyn had. Then, as they passed Evelyn and the lady got a look at Evelyn’s face, she said “Too bad she has such a homely face”.

Evelyn heard that remark, and she remembers it now, all these years later. In fact, she has told me this story several times. It really made an impression on her.

But the important part is what Evelyn told me next. She said, “Right away, I decided that I would learn to smile”.

So instead of being devastated by the lady’s unkind remark, Evelyn decided that it did not have to define her. Instead, she would define herself as the girl with the great smile.

Isn’t that a wonderful story? Today you can tell that Evelyn has smiled a lot in her life. She has smile lines around her mouth and smile wrinkles around her eyes. She still smiles a lot, and she looks lovely. Everyone loves her. She must be friends with half the people in town.

Remember this, next time something in life seems bad or unfair to you. You can always turn it around into a positive in some way. You can always “learn to smile.”