Smile (revised) I woke up with a frown. The amazing, small and overlooked details of living here in beautiful, sunny San Diego. I have a smile on my face now as I lay in the sand at Ocean Beach because today I noticed those too-often missed, precious details. As I wandered down Newport Ave, I took in as much as I could of my surroundings. While heading towards the beach, I saw a young woman, beautiful, in a wheel chair with both legs amputated and two metal arms. It saddened me for a moment but as I heard her glorious laughter, it made me think of how blessed she was to be alive. She made me smile. I walked by a cute skateboarder who almost ran me over. I was annoyed at first but then I noticed that he had lost his balance because he was staring and smiling at me. He said hello and then skated on by. He made me smile. A flock of seagulls flew by overhead, threatening to steal potato chips from a little boy. His shriek and giggles filled the air with rainbows and more sunlight. He made me smile. He was delighted with the task of distracting the birds. I found a spot on the beach near a group of teenaged girls, excitedly talking about their plans after high school. And of course, all of the trouble they were going to get into in the upcoming summer eves, sneaking out and having fun. It brought back memories of Strawberry Hill under a desert moon and hot days camping at the river, always a step ahead of my own parents so that I could sneak away as well. They made me smile. The couple next to me was on vacation from a little place in Montana. Wondering what to do tonight and wanting the real experience of California. This also made me smile because I took a moment to reflect on all of the blessings we have. Especially in San Diego. The weather is spring-like all year long. The music and club scene for party-goers is amazing, we have some of the top clubs in Southern California and 25% of the top clubs in the nation. The restaurants are incredible. We have so many places to see, Balboa Park, Seaport Village and the U.S.S. Midway, Gaslamp district, Little Italy, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Carlsbad village, Julian, SeaWorld, Wild Animal Park, Lego Land, the Flower Fields. This is JUST in San Diego, so much more I cant even list them all! Orange County and LA have some of the worlds most famous landmarks. San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Mountain, it goes on and on in sunny California Aside from all of this, I cant forget, despite the pain I may feel every day both physically and mentally and emotionally, the hardships I face with financial distress, or living paycheck to paycheck, at least I am alive. It is easy to take that for granted but I am not alone in my troubles or obstacles. The whole world seems worse with my problems because they are MY problems. But when I saw that beautiful girl in the wheelchair, I realized something. My initial reaction was to feel sad and pity her. Her laughter was so glorious and beautiful and genuine, I pitied myself instead for a moment to have been so jaded and shallow as to not have been able to see the world through rose colored glasses and be thankful for the things I DO have instead of disappointed in what I do not. Whatever and however she ended up in that situation, she is alive. And clearly, very pleased to be living each day. She made me smile because she taught me how to appreciate my own life and how to live. I will never know her name, but I will never forget her face or the sound of that laughter. She changed my outlook today. And so that frown has been turned upside down and I will chose to do something positive for someone else every day for the rest of my days, because no one really knows just how hard or how bad life is for someone else. A smile can change a life. What a beautiful day. Copyright © Pussycat Pink/DD 2014 💋
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 03:39:06 +0000
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