|
WHENEVER you feel down and want to pick yourself up, smile. That may
sound silly because when you’re down, you don’t feel like
smiling. Maybe you will say that you don’t want to be a hypocrite
who walks around smiling at everybody but feeling depressed inside.
Besides, what good will it do?
First, remember that if you’re depressed, it
is because you’ve allowed yourself to become such. You’ve said
to yourself: “I’ve been wanting to go to the movies for a month
and, because I can’t go tonight, because I’ve got to do some
extra work, I want everybody to know that I’m not happy”. Then
you walk around with that sad face and those big mournful eyes that
telegraph your inner feelings to everybody you meet. You do this
because you want people to feel sorry for you. And, oftentimes, it
works. Friends come running and try to pick your spirits up. They
feel sorry for you and you enjoy all the attention and the
affection.
This kind of response is natural. We have
behaved such for most of our lives. Sometimes, people don’t
respond to us when we are down. And as a result, we get hurt even
more and become sadder than ever.
When you smile, even when you don’t feel like
doing so, then, what happens? Well, first of all, you will begin to
feel differently. Your smile is something physical. It tells
something. It says that you are happy. But since you don’t feel
that way inside, you feel a conflict arising within you. Your inner
feelings want your face to show sadness, but it doesn’t. There is
a kind of pushing and pulling that is going on. You cannot keep
smiling and feeling sad inside. Something has to give way. Either
you stop smiling and become one with your sadness or you drop that
feeling of depression and smile inside as well as outside.
If you’re persistent in your smile, your
depression will gradually fall away and then your face will truly
mirror your inner feelings.
The trouble with us is that we give in to our
feelings too easily. We don’t do battle to the negative ones that
threaten to bring us down. Instead of fighting those negative
feelings, we simply flow with them and allow ourselves to float with
them.
If only we would learn to effectively deal with
our “down feelings”, we would not become a slave to them.
Instead, we would learn how to master them and counter them to our
advantage.
The best weapon to use against those “down
feelings” is the smile, even if it’s forced. Don’t worry, it
won’t stay forced for very long. Before you know it, the smile
will win out because all of us are looking for happiness and the
genuine smile is the trademark of true happiness. The smile, like
the frown, is habit forming. The more often you use it, the easier
it becomes. And the easier it is to smile, the quicker will you be
able to conquer your moments of depression.
___
If you have problems about darugs, alcohol
and behavior/attitude call my office at 8206107 or 8251771 or e-mail
me at gvcbuenca@vasia.com or write me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati
City.
|
