Have an inner smile
Do you find yourself taking yourself too seriously sometimes? Striving too hard and losing your sense of humour and your perspective?
When this happens, we lose a sense of lightness and joy and fail to appreciate the beauty that is this life.
Having an inner smile means that we greet our experience with kindness, openness and a sense of wonder. As Thich Nhat Hahn says, "You need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow."
Holding an inner smile also reminds us to keep a sense of humor and avoid being too hard on ourselves.
Maintaining an inner smile involves intentionally and gently smiling to yourself. It is more of an inner experience than an outward gesture. Of course, it may spill out from your heart onto your lips, and if it does, so much the better!
Let this smile remind you not to strive too hard or to criticize yourself. Allow it make your thoughts, words, and deeds more gentle and accepting. You may begin to notice how human beings can be rather amusing when we take ourselves so seriously. Having an inner smile will remind us that it is okay to (gently) laugh at ourselves and our humanness.
When you notice that yourself getting caught up in struggling with life, remember your inner smile. Allow yourself to find humour in your thoughts and experience.
By smiling at your experience you are not trying to deny or diminish it. You are simply meeting what is already here with kindness and perspective.
Go, go ahead: smile :)
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