Smile As Much As You Can

I try to smile as much as possible every single day. Now, I know that this luxury isn’t accessible to everyone because they may dealing with something. And for those people, I hope that their days get easier, their troubles start to lessen, and they finally feel like they can start to breathe again.

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Because I’ve been there before. I felt like I was drowning and was screaming for a life preserver, but no one heard me. What I failed to realize was that my cries for help weren’t for anyone else to acknowledge. My problems couldn’t be solved by anybody but myself.

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Once this became apparent to me and I accepted my situation, I was able to start the work on myself. And that journey was not easy. It was littered with traumas, pain, and past regrets that I willingly allowed to haunt me in the present. The difference today is that even though I recognize all of this darkness from my past, I no longer give it power to effect how I act, talk, feel, or behave.

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I have freed myself from the self-inflicted bondages that kept me trapped. That is why I smile as much as I can today because it represents much more than just a facial gesture to me. It’s fueled by the pain and suffering I went through to get here. It’s fueled by the tremendous amount of work I did on myself to get here. It’s fueled by the faith and trust I had in myself to get here.

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And because of that, I will never ever let anyone take my smile away from me.