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Smiling More? Don’t Forget Family
Reflections on habit #17 in my journey
I’m smiling as I write this. Not that you would be able to tell since I’m wearing a mask. The mask is because I’m in a hotel lobby typing away while my family sleeps.
My middle child just graduated from college, minus the graduation ceremony. We did a photo shoot on campus in cap and gown, then went ax throwing, followed by my baby’s first pub crawl, outdoor seating of course. All in all a great graduation for Covid times and a whole lot more fun than listening to insipid graduation speeches.
That was the fun part of the day. The morning and afternoon involved four of us trying to get my packrat child packed up and her mountains of junk into a shipping box. Take four opinioned adults, two of them very jet-lagged, and there are numerous ways this situation can go pear-shaped.
Celebratory ax-throwing was sounding like a somewhat risky undertaking.
A smile abroad is often a scowl at home. — Alfred Lord Tennyson
What does any of this have to do with a habit of smiling? Sometimes family members are the hardest people to smile for.
This is why I’m glad I added smiling as one of my 30 new habits. I need the regular reminder to put my best face on for my family as well as others.
