Despite what we’re fed via the news and various forms of media, and the fact that we take it for granted far too often, life is pretty amazing.

Take a minute. Close your eyes and ask, “What makes me smile?”

Let the images flood your mind, your being. Be honest with yourself and connect to your heart. You’ll probably discover that it isn’t the trappings of life that bring the smiles.

More often than not it’s the connection to a special person, a friend or family member. Or maybe the fur babies that occupy or have occupied a special space in your heart, or a tree you see outside or plants that you’ve nurtured from seedlings. It could be a sunrise painted across the morning sky or the smell of an approaching thunderstorm.

It seems that the things that bring on the smiles are most memorable connections to life and Nature. It doesn’t matter where you are or what your economic circumstances might be and it makes no difference whether you live in a mansion or a tent or something in between or whether you’re known or unknown. These smiles and their sources are personal to each of us and can only be enjoyed by us as individuals.

I’ve been fortunate to travel and to see the extremes of both sides of humanity’s economic stations. It was fascinating to observe those with nothing seemed happier and smiled more than those with everything. In a small village in Ecuador I watched a woman wash clothes on a rock in a river. She was singing and smiling while doing a task I would have deemed a primitive chore. I asked why she was smiling?

Her answer, “Por que no? Es bonito.” “Why not? It’s beautiful.” We talked about family and life while she finished her laundry. I helped her collect the drying clothes from sun-baked rocks and she wandered down the dirt trail headed home, singing and smiling.

She taught me a great deal, as have countless others during the course of my life. The end results always seem to hold the same truths. It’

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