The Girl with the Smile

It's hard to explain how just looking at a smiling face can be one of the most touching experiences of a lifetime. While I was in Haiti I was lucky enough to see, on a fairly regular basis, a girl who I think is about 6 years old. She's almost always got a huge smile on her face, and her face seems to be made of pure joy. For no reason, really! (Please click the picture at the left so you can see a better version.)

To the best of my knowlege, she lives with a family that can barely afford to eat. I'm told this family is part of the 50% of Haiti's population that lives on less than $1 US per day. They were next-door to us in the small city of Dabonn, a few hours' drive west of Port-au-Prince.

A friend of mine says that having the kind of life you want is a matter of "who you be", rather than what you have or what you do, and that with practice, you can just choose to be joyful and to look at life from that perspective, regardless of circumstances. It sounds kind of ridiculous, but I invite you to try it out a few times whenever the idea occurs to you (especially in difficult circumstances). See if it works for you!