From Denny: Smiling. It comes naturally. You would think no one had to remind us to smile, now would you? Yet the pressures of Life can crowd in our good attitude, squeezing it so small sometimes. How to counteract that problem? Just smile. It's that simple.
When I was a teenager my father was stationed in Taiwan and we lived with him. While I went to an American boarding school I had the chance to meet an unusual man: a very old Taoist master. He was one of those rare recluses that usually lived high up in the mountains of the country and never came down to the cities. Most of his countrymen heard of him as a powerful legend and had never set eyes on him.
He wasn't a hermit; he was a Taoist spiritual master. And he said he came down from the mountain to teach me. I was honored yet still a bit young to fully understand just how pivotal that moment was in my life but I fully appreciated it and thanked him. His gender bigoted apprentices were less than enthused. He pressed on. And one of those simple concepts he taught me was about The Inner Smile.
One of things I enjoyed about learning from the Chinese and Old Master (I couldn't pronounce his name then) was how their minds moved. They were fellow conceptual thinkers and it was easy for me to follow their line of thought. They fully embraced ultimate simplicity because they knew the power in it. So when I tell you that there is power in the simple exercise of The Inner Smile it is true. Basically, what you are doing is reaffirming Life, validating yourself as worthy to live and balancing your spiritual energy by focusing it upon your heart and inner health. That's it.
All you do is close your eyes and visualize looking inward at yourself. You literally smile at every part of yourself you "see" in your visualization. Do that for 15 minutes a day and you will not suffer from depression, anger or worry when stressful times come. Keeping your spiritual energy balanced helps you when Life challenges approach and you take a journey in a Life test to learn more about yourself and the role of living the life of a spiritual being in the Universe.
Quotes
* It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring to the most important muscle of the body... the heart. - Anonymous
* A smile is the universal welcome. - Max Eastman
* A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. - William Arthur Ward
* Most smiles are started by another smile. - Anonymous
* A smile is something you can't give away; it always comes back to you. - Anonymous
* Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. - Mother Teresa
* A friendly look, a kindly smile, one good act, and life's worthwhile. - Anonymous
*** Photo by Tansan @ flickr
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