Beneath the mask
Life makes you awkward
Sometimes life feels meaningless
Awkward life cannot be understood to the fullest
The twists;
The turns;
The ups;
The downs.
The sweet;
The sour;
Sunshine and rainfall
Beautiful clear days
Dark muzzy days
All beneath life's mask.
Whilst some live life just as it is, but the seasons of life throw at us various challenges.
The other day, in the pub, I met a neighbour I hardly speak with, but for greetings, he stole the opportunity to tell me his opinion of me.
Yes, we have lived in the same neighbourhood for years:
'I have always seen you as the girl who never goes anywhere except for a reason. When you step out, it's to go to a particular place, if not then I hardly see you,' He opined.
I nodded as if in total agreement. Encouraged, he told me all he had been wanting to say to me:
'I also know that you don't walk about smiling yet as soon as you see or meet someone and have to exchange pleasantries you wear that charming smile' Ooops! Did he really think my smile was charming. I smiled at his comment and he screamed;'that's the smile am talking about..beautiful! So I've loved saying ‘hi’ to you anytime, any day. I also notice that though your look is expressionless, you laugh a lot once you begin a conversation. I was beggining to wonder if you had any worries at all in life.' Then it struck my mind how wrongly people read the gestures of others and again I was inspired to sit behind my computer to write this.
So a smile gave someone the impression that I had absolutely no worries in life; I think that is how it ought to be.
How it ought to be; smile as much as you can. It's good for you blah blah blah. I've come to appreciate now a lesson I picked up several years ago whilst taking part in 'Miss Legon' which I probably took for granted back then:
Practice your smile; yes if you do not; you will look awkward when you smile. Most of the people with beautiful smiles are those who have practised smiling even before they smiled to other people. So the next time you see someone smile beautifully, remember they practised their smiles in their closets; somewhere smiling just to themselves and no one else.
When you smile all alone by yourself, its easier to smile for no reason at all. That means, whether the sun shines or not, whether the rain comes or not or whether you encounter potholes on the road of life ;you will still have a reason to smile.
So that, one would have to peel off your mask to realise that ordinarily you have no reason to smile. That you smile is not an absence of potholes on your life's road, neither is it the abundance of rain on the plants that life has taught you to nurture nor the absence of battles on the field of life’
Rather your smile only says that 'I am tough; I can do this; I can finish writing my life's story and still have an excellent script.'
On the surface;let the smiles show. Smile and smile and smile. It's good for you. Leave all the challenges of life beneath the mask, they will go away eventually.
Let the mask depict to the world the 'tough you' who still smiles in spite of all and that will be exactly how you feel inside.
