佚名/Anonymous
M. Dawson was an old grouch, and everyone in town knew it. Kids dared not to go into his yard to pick a yummy apple, because Dawson, they said, would come after you with his BB gun.
When, one Friday, Janet and Amy got close enough to his house, Dawson looked up with his usual frown. But when he saw it was Amy, he put on a broad smile and said,“Hello!Miss Amy. I see you've got a little friend today.”
Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and they were going to listen to music and play games. Dawson told them that sounded fun, and offered them each a fresh apple picked off his tree. They gladly accepted—Dawson had the best apple in town.
When they got out of Dawson's earshot, Janet asked,“Everyone says he's the meanest man in town. How come he was so nice to us?”
Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house he wasn't very friendly and she was afraid of him, but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled back at him. It took a while, but one day he half-smiled back at her.
After some more time, he started smiling real smiles and then started talking to her, just a“hello”at first, and then more. She said he always offers her an apple now, and is always very kind.
“An invisible smile?”questioned Janet.
“Yes,”answered Amy,“my grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn't afraid and pretended he was wearing an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, that sooner or later he really would smile. Grandma says smiles are contagious.”
If we remember what Amy's grandma said, that everyone wears an invisible smile, we too will find that most people can't resist our smile after a while. All it takes to uplift the day is to remember to give that smile away!You can't save them, you can't store them. The only way they are any good is to share. Giving a smile away takes so little effort and time. Let's make sure that we are not the one that others have to pretend is wearing an invisible smile.