Let’s be honest—life in Africa can be tough, really tough.
In the course of our travels, I’ve met people who don’t have jobs but who want to work. Others have been employed, but don’t have enough money to send a brother or sister to school. Some find it hard to look after a parent who is blind or unwell. And way too many are generally unwell.
There are people who have lost family members to AIDS or
horrific road accidents. We came down a mountain road to find an overturned/crushed
pickup that had been fully loaded with passengers. It had toppled over a missed
curve. Hard to believe that anyone survived.
Yet, in the face of all this hardship and heartache, Africans still manage to smile.
The Power of a Smile
I believe in the power of a smile. A smile can be a subtle
twitch of the jaw muscles or a large grin with both rows of teeth showing much
like a third-grader on picture day.
Smiling is contagious. One of my goals every day is to
smile, whether to myself or to someone else, even a complete stranger. I have a
neighbor, an elderly Chinese woman, I have no clue as to what her name is, yet
every day when I leave my house I see her on her morning walk and we smile to
each other. I once was on the bus on my way to campus and I smiled to a
person sitting across from me. I later realized the person was in one of my
classes and I introduced myself as the guy that smiled to her on the bus. This
person and I have become the closest of friends. I recently had a friend pass
away, and at his funeral his parents had put up his senior
portrait from high school. This was no ordinary senior portrait, however; it
was him smiling with a set of joke teeth in his mouth. His parents knew
it was the way he would have wanted us to remember him because he had the
power to bring a smile to the faces of his family and friends.
Smiling is what grounds me; it stabilizes and makes me feel
more in control every day. It reminds me that, despite the fast pace of life, I
must always remember to be happy and appreciate the little things in life.
Smiling helps me overcome times of fear, anxiety and nervousness. Smiling helps
me express to others my proudest moments. Smiling helps me convey love for
others. Sometimes, when no words can be spoken, a smile is all that is needed
to fill the air.
The smile is a universal sign of happiness. I believe it is
the ultimate connection between all humankind. No matter how big or small, if a
smile is genuine it creates an ineffable feeling in the atmosphere. I believe
in the power of a smile to make the saddest of circumstances a little better. I
believe in the power of a smile to enrich the happiest experiences in life. I
believe in the power of a smile to transcend all barriers between individuals
and to create special moments in life.