3 Points to Ponder
- “Choosing to smile through life is a learned habit. Don’t wait for things to get easier or better as life is always complicated. Learn to be joyful in all circumstances. What can you be joyful about right now, even despite the messiness of life?”
- “I love to be around joyful older people as they have a story to tell me. Every single one has fought a battle, but they’ve embraced the struggle and found something greater. When you picture the later years in your life, what do you picture? How do your actions today contribute to that future picture?”
- “Daily habits form a lifetime of action. Are your habits forming the foundation for the life you want?”
2 Quotes to Share
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” -Henri Nouwen
“You are free to think thoughts of worry or joy, and whatever you choose will attract the same kind back to you. Worry attracts worry. Joy attracts joy.” – Rhonda Byrne
1 Story of Impact
Pulling off the dirt road, we shout into the yard, “Onè” with the customary response, “Respè” coming from the nearby dirt house with a rusted tin roof. We are here seeing an old friend, Letwa, an elderly man who doesn’t quite know how old he is. Last summer, my family visited Letwa to bless him with an audio Bible as his eyes are not the best and reading is hard. For the past season, Letwa’s main mode of transportation has been a personal energy transportation (PET) cart, pedaling with his arms around the countryside. Sitting underneath the mango tree, Letwa has a huge smile on his face as he recalls stories of his younger musician days. He is a good storyteller, and we laugh with him many times. As I’m sitting next to him, what strikes me are the “smile wrinkles” on Letwa’s face. Letwa smiles so much he actually has lines. The joy for life just oozes out of him, despite being a physically disabled man, living in tough conditions, and alone. The simple things give him pleasure, such as having enough chairs for everyone to sit when we come and visit. He has his self-described “best friend” in an audio Bible to accompany his day. Letwa reminded me it is possible for circumstances to have no power over my joy. The “smile wrinkles” on his face tell a story of a man who understands something much greater than the worries of this world. You have a choice today to choose your joy. You have a choice today to hang out with “smile wrinkle” people. Or be a “smile wrinkle” person for someone else.
