A Little Light of Positivity.

Hello and Happy Saturday! 

I arrived in the city early last night. Enough time to stroll around in some vintage stores before I met my friends to discuss books and so much more. Should I make a little visit to my favorite local bookstore? Why not. While I walked through the isles and browsed shelves upon shelves of awesomeness I overheard a conversation that an elderly couple right next to me had. Both seemed angry, cold and tired – I would even say somewhat deeply irritated with each other. There was just some sort of rage in the air between those two, there would be simply no mercy found in this conversations. I moved on because this is clearly not my business but in a way I felt sad for both of them. 

I left the bookstore to sit in the sun for a bit when I saw another couple screaming and yelling at each other at the market place about clothing and makeup the woman purchased. “What a waste of my money and my time, “the husband/boyfriend screamed. The woman looked sad, carried her bags and walked behind him while she straightened her hijab. Everybody has something different and special going on. Some have a rough day, some are angry about the weather, about their husband or wife or about the train and bus schedule. There is nothing I can do to help these people. They were so deep in their anger and frustration that they did not even realize that I was there. So I got up and walked to the restaurant when I saw one more person approaching me, tears in his eyes, head down and sad. I looked at him and I smiled. And he smiled back. It seemed as if some spell had been lifted, his face lit up and he laughed. 

We do live in a hard world and I realize that it is sometimes difficult to be and act like an human being. Many of us have bad days – some even have a bad days that last for several years. Depression. We all struggle and fail. We lose friends, jobs, love, faith or whatever it is. You watch the news and you see horrible things happening. You might think what will happen next. Sometimes it feels like there is just complete darkness and everything is negative and it is pulling down. Then I thought that I might be the light. What if I was the light of this man who walked so sad and lonely and I smiled at him? I think this somehow helps me to realize that when everything seems to go wrong and the world appears to be so negative and I ask myself, “What can I do to make this situation better, or how can I be the light in this persons life or in my own life?” there will be an answer if I just stay positive and look for it. 

Of course I know that unfortunately I cannot end wars, solve global warming or find a cure for Aids and I cannot control drug trafficking.  But, I do have some influence on people I meet and speak to. Even though we might never remember each others names but we remember how we behaved towards each other. Within human society it is all contagious, our anger and our sadness but even more so our generosity and patience. We do have so much influence but mostly we are not aware of it and therefore don’t realize it. It does not matter who you are, what you do or where you are.  It also does not matter how crazy or tough your life situations might be or seem. I just think you can make a change and illuminate this world you live in. I think that this is the only way who anything can every be illuminated. One smile at a time. Food for thought. Think about it.