#SmileYoga

My New Year’s Resolution for 2012 is to smile more and practice #SmileYoga.

In smiling more, I feel better. 

The good feeling starts from the corners of my mouth moving upwards, to the inhale of fresh air, holding my breath for a moment while I find a happy thought, then exhaling as I feel the bad air leave my body – seemingly through my heart.

After a few breaths, I feel much better.

#SmileYoga

#SmileYoga can be done anywhere and at anytime.  When I find that I am frowning or just in the need of a lift, I take a moment to myself and borrow some techniques from yoga.

The first step is to turn the corners of my mouth upward, already beginning to feel the difference.

Closing my eyes is optional, otherwise, I just don’t focus on anything around me – except maybe something that might help to generate the emotion which helps a smile along.

The first step is to turn the corners of my mouth upward, just a little bit; already I begin to feel the difference.

Then I take a moderately deep breath in, not so much for others to notice the effort, but more of a breath than normal.  As I breathe in, I bring a good thought or memory into my heart.

I then let the air out a little slower than usual – again, not so much as to attract attention.

Then, as in yoga, I move the corners of my mouth up just a little more.

I take in another fresh breath, with more good thoughts.

Hold that breath and thought for just a second.

Let the breath out slowly, taking with it some of the bad from your day.

Repeat until you can feel the smile all the way into your heart.

Smile More

As I go through my everyday movements, I try to smile at just about anyone I pass.  Some of the people don’t even seem to notice.  Many though, will give a smile in return.

The other day we were driving up 95 between Washington and Baltimore; sitting in the front passenger seat, I smiled at each vehicle we passed.  Many of the drivers did not even look over to see me.  Many gave an immediate smile in return.

As we passed one man in particular, he looked over at me with a ‘down’ expression on his face.  He looked as though his whole day was going in the wrong direction. He didn’t seem to respond to my smile, as we passed.  Then as often happens in traffic, he passed us a moment later.  At that point he made an effort to pace beside us, as he gave a beautiful full smile in return.  Several minutes later we passed him again, he noticed us approaching in the pack of cars and gave me another great smile.  I felt great after that – thinking that just maybe that smile had helped to turn a 180 on the way he felt about his day.  I imagined he took that smile home to his family.

The Easiest Resolution

My resolution is one of the easiest I have ever made.  So far I have been able to keep it going, and we have one month of 2012 under our belts.

Regardless of what has been handed to me each day, I strive to find a smile,  I have learned that smiling from the outside in is almost as effective as smiling from the inside out.  Eventually your whole body catches up to the feeling, and you continue to smile.

Smiles as a Weapon

The other day I was dealing with someone who had basically totally lost his cool.  He was ranting about something over which neither of us had any control, but I was seemingly the one to blame.  It drove him nuts when I started to practice my #SmileYoga.  He couldn’t understand why I was smiling as he continued his rant.  Eventually, his rant simmered down to a boil, then to a simmer.

After he calmed down, he asked why I was smiling at him.  Didn’t I understand the severity of the situation? Yes, I did, but I couldn’t do anything to change the situation.

I told him rather than cry at his rant, I chose to smile at the thought of what it would be like when the wrong was corrected.  It drove him nuts, but he didn’t know how to respond.

Smiles Are Contagious

Like laughter and giggles, smiles are contagious.  If a person is at all receptive to your smile, they will respond in kind, and possibly pass the smile on to yet another person.

I was waiting for someone at Target to check on something for me.  I smiled at everyone that passed me.  Many smiled back.  Then I noticed that the ones that smiled at me smiled at the next person they passed.

Many times when you smile at a small child they will respond with a smile of their own.  My favorite reaction though, is when they giggle or squeal with delight.  That is when a lot of other people turn to smile, as well.

If you have the time, maybe while waiting for someone or something, try your own experiment:  smile at a stranger, see if they smile back at you.  If they do, chances are that they will pass that smile to the next person they pass.

In this season of contagions, smiles are the one contagion you will enjoy! Maybe one of those you smile at needs a smile more than anything else to make their day feel better.

Practice #SmileYoga and pass smiles on to anyone and everyone you meet.

The Perfect Man and the Perfect Woman

There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help.

There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle.

Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident.

Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the survivor?

The perfect woman.

She’s the only one that really existed in the first place.
Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

* A Man’s Response *

So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving. This explains why there was a car accident.

Little Leroy is getting better at math

Little Leroy was doing very badly in math. They tried everything they could think of to help Little Leroy learn math; working with him each night, tutors, mentors, flash cards, and learning centers. They were running out of options.

In a further effort, they enrolled Little Leroy in the local Catholic school.  On his first day of school, Little Leroy came home with a very serious look on his face.  He didn’t ask for a snack or to play video games, but instead, ran straight to his room.

Little Leroy started studying immediately.  His books and papers were spread out all over his bedroom and Little Leroy was working hard.  His mother looked in on him several times, and was amazed to continually find him working on his homework.

When dinner was ready, Big Leroy had to coax Little Leroy to the dinner table to eat.  As soon as he was finished his dinner, he asked to be excused from the table so that he could continue to work on his homework.  His parents were stunned and amazed, but relieved that Little Leroy was working so hard on his lessons.

Little Leroy’s concentration on his homework continued night after night.  His parents wondered what made the difference.  They met with Little Leroy’s teacher at Parent’s Night, and found her to be a nice teacher.  She only said that Little Leroy was a very attentive student, who did not dally in class.  She could not understand the issues other teachers have had with Little Leroy in the past, as he was an ideal student in her class.

Finally it was report card time.  Little Leroy brought home his report card, and laid it on the dinner table after dinner.  He went straight to his room to continue his homework.

With great trepidation, his parents opened the report card, and were greatly surprised to see that Little Leroy was earning straight A’s.  Even in math!  They could no longer contain their curiosity.

Big Leroy and his wife went to  Little Leroy’s room.  They stood at the door watching as Little Leroy diligently worked on his homework.

Big Leroy asked, “Little Leroy, we want to know what has made the difference.  Was it the Nuns?”

“No, sir,” replied Little Leroy as he looked back to his books.

“Well then,” his mother continued, “Is it the books, do they explain things differently?”

“No ma’am.”

“Is it because of the structure, or the discipline, or the uniforms?” asked Big Leroy.

Little Leroy put down his pencil, “No sir,” and continued with conviction, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign in the class room, I knew they weren’t fooling around.”

The power of marketing

Two beggars were sitting side by side on a street in Rome Italy . One had a Cross in front of him; the other one was holding the Star of David. Many people walked by, looked at both beggars, but only put money into the hat of the beggar sitting behind the Cross.

A priest approached. He stopped to watch the throngs of people giving money to the beggar who held the Cross, but none gave to the beggar holding the Star of David.

Finally, the priest walked over to the beggar behind the Star of David and said, “My poor fellow, don’t you understand? This is a Catholic country; this city is the seat of Catholicism. People aren’t going to give you money if you sit there with a Star of David in front of you, especially when you’re sitting beside a beggar who is holding a Cross. In fact, they would probably give more money to him just out of spite.”

The beggar behind the Star of David listened to the priest, turned to the beggar with the Cross and said, “Moishe, look who’s trying to teach the Goldstein brothers about marketing.”

What would Bubbles do if she won the lottery?

Bubbles and Babs were sipping their Starbucks when a truck went past, loaded up with pallets of sod.

“I’m going to do that when I win the lottery,” announced Bubbles.

“Do what?” asked Babs.

“Send my lawn out to be mowed.”

More of Little Leroy

The teacher asked Maria to go to the map and find North America .
Maria said, “Here it is.”
The teacher said, “Correct. Little Leroy, who discovered America ?
Little Leroy replied, “Maria.”

**

His teacher asked Little Leroy, “Why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?”
Little Leroy replied, “You told me to do it without using tables.”

**

The teacher began her lesson, “George Washington not only chopped down his father’s cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, class, do you know why his father didn’t punish him?

Little Leroy blurted out, “Because George still had the axe in his hand!”

**
His Sunday School teacher asked, “Little Leroy, tell me, do you say prayers before eating dinner at your home?
Little Leroy replied, “No sir, I don’t have to, my Mom is a good cook.”

Where are you going this time of night?

Bubba was stopped by the police around 1 a.m. and asked, “Where are you going at this time of night?”

Bubba replied, “I am going to a lecture about alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body.”

The officer then asked, “Really? Who is giving that lecture at this time of night?”

Bubba replied, “That would be my wife.”

Little Leroy and a waste of time

After the first couple of months of first grade, Little Leroy came home from school and said, “I’m just wasting my time going to school.”

“Why?” asked his mother, “What’s wrong?”

Little Leroy replied, “I can’t read, I can’t write and they won’t let me talk!”

Meet Me in the Stairwell, in honor of Sept. 11

Admittedly, this is from an email I received more than once.  Just had to share…

‘MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL’

You say you will never forget where you were when
you heard the news On September 11, 2001.
Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room
with a man who called his wife to say ‘Good-Bye.’ I
held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the
peace to say, ‘Honey, I am not going to make it, but it
is OK . . .. I am ready to go.’

I was with his wife when he called as she fed
breakfast to their children. I held her up as she
tried to understand his words and as she realized
he wasn’t coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a
woman cried out to Me for help. ‘I have been
knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!’ I said.
‘Of course I will show you the way home – only
believe in Me now.’

I was at the base of the building with the Priest
ministering to the injured and devastated souls.
I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He
heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat,
with every prayer. I was with the crew as they
were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the
believers there, comforting and assuring them that their
faith has saved them.

I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan .
I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news.
Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew
every name – though not all know Me. Some met Me
for the first time on the 86th floor.

Some sought Me with their last breath.
Some couldn’t hear Me calling to them through the
smoke and flames; ‘Come to Me… this way… take
my hand.’ Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me.
But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You
may not know why, but I do.. However, if you were
there in that explosive moment in time, would you have
reached for Me?

Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey
for you . But someday your journey will end. And I
will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may
be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are
‘ready to go.’

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

God

Whether or not you believe in God, or a higher power, you realize what God means to many people in the world and the strength that can be derived from this poem.

Please remember our troops, write them letters, send them packages and thank them when you see them on the streets.  They are paying the ulitmate price for freedom every day!

God loves drunks too!

A man and his wife were awakened at 3:00 am by a loud pounding on the door. The man got up and went to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, asked the man for a push.

“Not a chance,” said the husband, “it is 3:00 in the morning!”

 

He slammed the door and returned to bed.

 

“Who was that?” asked his wife.

 

“Just some drunk guy asking for a push,” he answered.

 

“Did you help him?” she asked.

“No, I did not, it is 3:00 in the morning and it is pouring rain out there!”

 

“Well, you have a short memory,” said his wife. “Can’t you remember about three months ago when we broke down, and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself! God loves drunk people too.”

 

The man did as he was told, got dressed, and ventured out into the pounding rain.

 

He called out into the dark, “Hello, are you still there?”

 

“Yes,” came back the answer.

 

“Do you still need a push?” called out the husband.

“Yes, please!” came the reply from the dark.

 

“Where are you?” asked the husband.

 

“Over here on the swing set,” replied the drunk.