All in the Mind

Today I put into action something I have longed to do for a long time, but have been unable to.

I try to be happy everyday, but as a human being, I am not immune from being unhappy at times. The problem is that when I am unhappy, everyone around me becomes unhappy along with me. That is due, in no uncertain terms, to no one else but me. When I am unhappy I emit negative facial expressions, negative words and negative mannerisms in general. This negativity affects everyone in my path.

Of course, the next day, whatever was bothering me the day before would inevitably seem inconsequential. Things would either work themselves out or I would work through them in my mind. This would make me feel guilty about having made everyone around me feel unhappy the day before.

Today, I moderated my mind - to smile when I came home to greet my wife and son, to give Khiem a kiss in the kitchen, to listen to Justin's stories from school - despite having had a very rough day myself. When they saw me smile, they smiled; I got a kiss back; I heard moving stories from the playground full of excitement. That in turn, made me smile. We all had a great evening.

It's all in the mind.