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Creative Writing – SMILE

You have had a bad day.

The alarm clock went dead in the morning when you have a very important meeting with a client before office hours. On the way to the meeting, you got stuck in a very bad jam because the road was closed for some public event, without prior notice. Naturally, when you finally got there, your client had left. An inevitable dressing down from your immediate superior followed that even your fiercest rival in the workplace felt sorry for you.

After lunch, you made more visits to the toilet than your fingers can count because the food you ate was not hygienic. While your colleagues that went along with you suffered no ill-effects at all. It was five minutes to six and you are almost done word processing your fifty-page proposal that you have been working on for one full week when your computer crashed and the recovered file was at page twenty-five.

Finally, you left the office and realised you are already late for a dinner date with your other half. You were thankful that she was still waiting there when you apologetically made your entrance to the restaurant, just to find out that she waited for you because she wanted to tell you that she has decided to leave you for someone else.

Feeling dejected and lost of hope, you began to wonder what worse could happen to you. Your car picked up a puncture while you were driving home and had to change the tyre. While you were at it, rain began to fall and it got heavier by the minute. Just when you were about to give up and wanted to rush to the middle of the road so that any passing vehicle would end your misery, you were approached by two robbers. You gave them your watch, your hand phone, your notebook and all your money. Since you have already taken the wheel out of your car, they could not drive it away, therefore they gave you a good bashing before leaving the scene.

Eventually, you replaced the punctured tyre in pain, and drove home. There was a voice message for you from your parents that the grandfather you loved the most had just passed away. By then you were overwhelmed by the series of unfortunate events that have happened on you that you began laughing like a lunatic even though streams of tears were rolling down your face.

You began asking questions.
Could anyone else have had a worse day than mine?
Will I be able to survive tomorrow?
Why must all bad things happen to me?
Why?
WHY?
W-H-Y-?

Smile, though you heart is aching
Smile, even though it’s breaking

You heard the song coming from the radio. ‘How could I smile after going through what I have been through today?’ You stared at the radio while thinking to yourself.

When there are clouds in the sky
You’ll get by

Every cloud has a silver lining, no matter how bad a situation you are in, there will always be light at the end of the tunnel. If you could grit your teeth and push yourself, you could make it through.

 If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just…

There is always an end to everything, be it good or bad, happy or sad. When you are in a midst of a difficult situation, where you are powerless to control or to change its outcome, be positive and smile. No matter how hopeless things tend to be, at the end of the day, new possibilities (and positivity) will emerge.

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near

There is a saying that tells you, if you give up hope and give up trying, you have zero chances of overcoming the problem, but if you stay positive and keep trying, you still have fifty percent chance of succeeding.

That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just…

When you are sad, when you feel the negative emotion, everything seems to work against you. When you are happy, when you are filled with positive emotions, you feel that you can conquer the toughest challenge thrown at you. With just a change in attitude, you can change your own destiny.

Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You’ll get by…

People can tell you how wonderful it is to just smile but you will never receive this gift unless you open your arms to receive it. When you keep thinking negatively, you will stay where you are. But if you would just smile, and have a positive attitude, which costs you absolutely nothing, you are ready to turn the situation around.

If you smile
Through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just smile…

Bear in mind that no matter how dire the situation is, all is not lost as long as you stay positive and keep fighting. If you felt that you do not have the energy to do so today, get some rest, have a good night’s sleep, and try again when the sun rises tomorrow. As long as you keep trying, you will gain some ground at the end of the day.

That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile
If you’ll just smile

Remember the most important five letter word in our life, smile.

Music composed by Charlie Chaplin (1936)
Lyrics written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons (1954)
Song performed by Michael Jackson (1995)
Movie in clip written and produced by Charlie Chaplin (1921)

NB. This is one of my favourite song, it never fails to lift my spirits whenever I am down. I like this song so much that I wrote a Chinese lyrics here. Enjoy and smile