Yesterday was one of those days, you wake-up completely on the wrong side of the bed. Tripping, spilling, cursing the morning away. I thought for sure it was going to be a horrible day. To boot, I’m late and there is ice all over my car. So, after de-icing the car and cranking up the heat I feel the heat of being late. Not that I was going to get in trouble, I just really hate to be late anywhere. So, there I am in my car, driving through my neighborhood, thinking of nothing but being late and how bad of a morning it was.
Freeze……Can you see how the day is shaping? It’s going to be bad and I’m determined to make it so. Ok Go!
As I get to a corner in my neighborhood I notice my neighbor and her grandchild waiting for the bus. This woman always waves to me and I wave back but it will take a huge undertaking to remove my negative thoughts. And then it happend. Although I might have been 20 degrees and ice everywhere, her Grandchild looked up with that pom on top of her knitted cap and her stripped mittens to “smile and wave” at me. I was stuck in my tracks, unable to move.
The moment of seeing a child smile and wave changed everything. I felt that “Inner Smile” blurb up and fill my body. The last thing to hit was the smile on my face. A simple act of joy and a smile melted me, turned everything around.
I couldn’t stop smiling the whole way to work…..then it cascaded to a spring in my step and my humor…….I felt like bouncing to every meeting.
The “Inner smile”, from Lao Tzu to Buddha, a concept of love from the inside.
What I felt was a massive amount of Qi cultivation at that moment, continuing throughout the day, thinking of my Qigong instructor saying “let a smile float up to your face” only brought more Qi. My practice of “Loving-Kindness” as of late came to mind as well and I was again washed in Qi and calm.
Some call it the Buddha Nature or Loving-Kindness and some call it the “Inner Smile”, I called it unexpected.
This just goes to show how much of a quality day we create by just thinking it as well as the power of a wave and a smile from another being.
For meditation and more articles:
Metta: The Practice of Loving Kindness by Kris Vockler
18. January 2008 at 10:41 am
Right before I read your blog I was listening to Wayne Dyer speak of the Tao and how to incorporate it into our lives. Looking within, sharing with unconditional love, seeing beauty in all things!
Maybe we can all make commitments to help each other stay on track, follow the Tao, live life in a way that creates love and peace! It’s easy to forget our core reason for being here when our immediate issues are pressing us in the face, scaring us into a false reality.
Maybe a smile, an innocent smile is all it takes to remind us what is really important right now in this moment. Let’s all make a commitment to sharing a smile today!
18. January 2008 at 12:02 pm
Great stuff Stacey, you are right 100%. Part of the work we do individually as well as this blog and teaching is about living in the Tao. You are spot on. Any chance you would be interested is working with me on teaching?
Thank you for the comments.
Kris
Kris’s last blog post..Inner Smile on a Cold Day
18. January 2008 at 12:56 pm
Isn’t it amazing what the simple act of smiling can do for us. Have a glorious day.
Patricia – Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker’s last blog post..Surrender—Using A God Box
19. January 2008 at 7:50 pm
You know something, now that I have one of my own, I realize rather often, that a child… their innocence, their purity, their perceptions (which are almost always seemingly better than ours…not to mention often hilarious,) will do it almost every time. You can’t refuse to smile back at their big bright young eyes, and chubby pinch-able cheeks, no matter how grumpy, and stuck in adulthood we get. Gotta love the munchkins
19. January 2008 at 11:10 pm
Patricia – Right you are. Thanks, Kris
Starr – It’s so true, I had to move my Grandmother today from one assisted living room to a new upgraded room. My cousin came down from Seattle to help with his son who is 5 now, he sees things so well and so clear. So different than the rest of us. Children are so amazing.
Namaste to both of you,
Kris
Kris’s last blog post..Inner Smile on a Cold Day