NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- The smile is one of the most misunderstood expressions of a human. It's conceived to only be motivated by happiness, when in actuality, it's commonly used to hide suffering or to protect another's joy.
Never be fooled into thinking that those who smile do not need support. Everyone should know that they're allowed to show weakness and fall from time to time. Everyone should know that if they did, someone else would know to catch them.
Being in high school, watching the way different kinds of people interact, I’m learning a thing or two about humanity. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed more so than others right now, is the absolute inability of some people to ask for help.
There’s this idea put out by society that asking for help is admitting weakness. I believe that asking for help is the strongest action one can take. This strength requires the swallowing of pride, the acceptance of that which will never change, and the acquisition of the will to survive.
There’s this idea put out by society that asking for help is admitting weakness. I believe that asking for help is the strongest action one can take. This strength requires the swallowing of pride, the acceptance of that which will never change, and the acquisition of the will to survive.
I constantly remind myself that you never know a person’s story at first glance and as close as you may get to them, you never will.
We all inevitably keep things to ourselves, even in the most open relationships, because that’s human nature, to guard the heart.
For this reason, I think we should all keep in mind that everyone, even strangers, deserves someone to grab them by the shoulders, look them in the eyes and say, “I know you’re not okay so tell me what I can do to help.”
Some people, no matter how hard it gets, will never look to someone else for guidance. Some people just need guidance thrust upon them. Even those you least expect, the jock who has it all, the Christian, whose faith is never shaken, the girl whose words are always high spirited, even the one who never stops smiling, falls from time to time and eventually, won’t be able to get back up on their own.
We, as people, see a smile as a confirmation of what we’re looking for. We see it and think, “Well, they seem to be doing great. No need to worry about them.”
But what if that person we always went to for help, the one that always showed us the positives in our dark lives, the person who was the only light we saw at times, was actually fading and we just never noticed?
What if this person got so good at hiding his or her own struggles, that we were put under the impression that there weren’t any? What if our problems actually paled in comparison to theirs but we never knew because we never asked?
What if this person got so good at hiding his or her own struggles, that we were put under the impression that there weren’t any? What if our problems actually paled in comparison to theirs but we never knew because we never asked?
What if you find out too late that she wasn’t the golden one and he wasn’t the image of perfection?
What if all it would have taken was, not someone smiling back at them, but someone realizing that this person’s smile was a cry for help?
Would you go back and change?
Would you take the conversation off of yourself for once because for the first time in this person’s life, someone else will do the listening?
Would you drop everything that you thought was important for a life you realize has much more value? Or would you see them smile at you, look them in the eyes, smile back, and keep walking with the blissful ignorance that you’ve accepted as existing?
Would you drop everything that you thought was important for a life you realize has much more value? Or would you see them smile at you, look them in the eyes, smile back, and keep walking with the blissful ignorance that you’ve accepted as existing?
The choice is yours.