The Power of a Smile

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There are days that occur in our life where you feel that the crud in your life is winning.

When everything just seems to be piling on and you just can’t catch a break.

And when you are caught up in one of those days, nothing seems to help your pity party of one.

Logically you know you need to pull yourself out of it, yet you can’t.

Then it happens. Something so random and unexpected.

Someone just looks at you and smiles.

And in that moment, the smile is so powerful that it causes you to smile back.

For a brief moment you can breathe again.

In that moment, you learn the Power of a Smile.

In that moment, you realize it will be ok.

Maybe not right now, maybe not tomorrow but it will be ok.

The smile told you so….

~~~

Thank you Jorge at Taco Bell……

Your Big Smile in the drive through was the Power I needed to find mine at that moment.

~

~~~till we laugh again~~~

$540,000,000 and Growing! Next Stop $600,000,000

$540 Million and Growing!!

Oh my lordy, someone or some folks are going to be freaking rich!

And if it is some loser who loses it all in a matter of years they should be shot.

Let’s face it, tomorrow will be even more crazy with people buying those tickets, so I bet it gets close to $600,000,000 ….. Amazing! And imagine if it doesn’t go again. That sucker could be a billion dollars the the following week!

I know I’m milking this for two days but come on, there is some serious dreaming going on in households across the lower 48 states. Mega is played in 42 states and you know other than Hawaii and Alaska, those other 6 states are making a run for the border of their nearest state playing it. (Although, there might be some diehard Eskimo’s flying into SeaTac tomorrow and a few Canadians grabbing their passports.)

Oh don’t worry, I’m not obsessing over it today. I just needed a post before  midnight and I’ve been running around today and the most amusing thing has been watching everyone get their tickets. I swear I saw smoke coming out of the ticket machine at QT today as it was being used so much.  LOL

Besides, I don’t think anything is wrong with dreaming. How you will spend it, who you will help, and how you will invest it. Dreaming makes you smile as you think of the possibilities.

Just do me a favor, don’t stop dreaming if you aren’t the lucky bastard who does hit it big. I’ll allow you a minute or two to kick the dirt, mumble and cuss, but five minutes later, keep your dreams alive. Dreams are hope and we all need our dreams and our hope!

Good luck to those playing!

PS. If its you and not me, I’m available for life coaching    😀

~~~till we laugh again~~~

$540,000,000 and Growing! Next Stop $600,000,000

$540 Million and Growing!!

Oh my lordy, someone or some folks are going to be freaking rich!

And if it is some loser who loses it all in a matter of years they should be shot.

Let’s face it, tomorrow will be even more crazy with people buying those tickets, so I bet it gets close to $600,000,000 ….. Amazing! And imagine if it doesn’t go again. That sucker could be a billion dollars the the following week!

I know I’m milking this for two days but come on, there is some serious dreaming going on in households across the lower 48 states. Mega is played in 42 states and you know other than Hawaii and Alaska, those other 6 states are making a run for the border of their nearest state playing it. (Although, there might be some diehard Eskimo’s flying into SeaTac tomorrow and a few Canadians grabbing their passports.)

Oh don’t worry, I’m not obsessing over it today. I just needed a post before  midnight and I’ve been running around today and the most amusing thing has been watching everyone get their tickets. I swear I saw smoke coming out of the ticket machine at QT today as it was being used so much.  LOL

Besides, I don’t think anything is wrong with dreaming. How you will spend it, who you will help, and how you will invest it. Dreaming makes you smile as you think of the possibilities.

Just do me a favor, don’t stop dreaming if you aren’t the lucky bastard who does hit it big. I’ll allow you a minute or two to kick the dirt, mumble and cuss, but five minutes later, keep your dreams alive. Dreams are hope and we all need our dreams and our hope!

Good luck to those playing!

PS. If its you and not me, I’m available for life coaching    😀

~~~till we laugh again~~~

Before the Fire – The Prequel

First off, thank you to all my Facebook friends for the kind words yesterday after I shared about the house that caught on fire. Today, I thought I’d share what this same house looked like when I picked it up as a flip several years ago. By showing this, maybe you can see why this house just keeps on giving and how I was able to find something to latch onto so that I could laugh vs cry.

As I stated yesterday in my post (I Didn’t Know if I Should Laugh or Cry) I originally purchased this home back in 2007 before the markets tanked. I was going to do a flip with it. The previous owner turned the 2 bedroom into a 5 bedroom. But lost it in a foreclosure. He was so mad at the bank, he let his kids loose to destroy the house in retaliation. 

The following are some of the pictures I took. There was graffiti on most of the walls as you can see. In one room they even outlined a dead body. There was a small knife even stuck in one section of the wall. They filled the tub and toilet with poo and ripped out everything they could.

Walking through the house, all you could do is say the same WOW I was saying yesterday (Although for different reasons). This house made us laugh back then. While it was sad parents thought this was smart to teach their kids it still made you laugh in amazement that someone would go so far. It was another example of laughing when most would find it not the right emotion.

The reality is…What is the right emotion?

To me, the right emotion is the one that helps you get through the tough times in your life. The emotions that are healthy and help you heal. Hopefully, by sharing my story the past few days, I can help others see that sometimes, finding whatever piece of humor you can in the situation might help ease the pain just a little. Hopefully enough to help you make it through.

I’ll keep you all posted… and tomorrow we will resume our normal laughing schedule… LOL

 

~~~till we laugh again~~~~~~~~

 

l

My Little Orphaned Rubber Ducky…I didn’t mean to do it…

OK, before I tell this story, I am not proud of what I did, and it is an accident that still haunts me to this day.

However, it also brought me one of the best laughs I ever had a few weeks later. Plus I became the proud parent of an Orphaned Rubber Ducky…

About 10 years ago I was out with a large group of co-workers for a “day of adventure”. We were playing golf up in Washington  where our Divisional headquarters were. This golf course had several ponds weaved in between the many holes. (some of you are all ready ahead of me on what happened – shhh, don’t spoil it for others).

At the time, I was still pretty new to playing golf but I had a great tee shot and normally can hit a ball pretty far down the fairway. We pull up to tee off around hole 9. Down the fairway was one of these ponds. I tee up my ball, eye my destination and take a pretty good whack at the little white ball of death. Unfortunately I must have sliced it off a little bit. In typical fashion the ball traveled very far but unfortunately curved right into the pond.

My foursome watched as the ball flew into the pond, skipped 2-3 times and then shot directly into the air sky high. We each then just looked at each other with a “what the…”

We then hopped into our carts to inspect the strange trajectory.

As we pull up we see what we think are little tiny web feet sticking out of the water flapping back and forth. OH NO!!! We immediately assess that the reason the ball flew in the air straight up was that it hit one of our little ducky friends that populated the pond.

At this point I’m sick to my stomach and I love animals, and even have a special fondness for ducks (I did a high school report on them too). Anyways, one of the guys I’m with, grabs a club and is trying from the edge of the pond to flip the duck back up right with his club. What was amazing about this was, this guy was like 6 foot tall, 300lbs easily and a rough around the edges kind of guy and too see him caring so much about this little furry friend was pretty cool.

As Eric continued to try and flip “ducky” we watched in horror as his little feet kept flapping until they slowly stopped one foot at a time. Our hearts sunk as we realized that he was “gone”.

If I wasn’t feeling bad enough, word spread quickly to the 30+ of us out there that I had “killed” a duck. Some of them felt bad with me, some thought it was funny, but most just wanted to tease me relentlessly about it. “Duck Killer” was just one of the new titles I was crowned.

Fast forward several weeks or months, I lost track of time……

My assistant at the time brought me a small box that had been delivered. I did the typically shaking of the box and looking at who it was from. It had no name on it other than mine and had a slight rattle.

And what was in the box? A small rubber ducky with a yellow post it note on it saying… “Have you seen my mommy?”

Like I’m sure you just did, I busted up laughing.

I still have this little orphaned duck. He sat on my desk with his note looking for his mommy for many years. He even traveled through three states I moved from. Today he resides in my home office. The note has since been lost, but his home with me has not. I provide him with good meals, lots of water, and the big metal goose I got from a Steven Covey seminar keeps watch over him when I am not home. He has not wanted for anything in the past 10+ years.

While the horror of the memory is still there even to this day, I can not help but smile and laugh over the whole thing. While I’m sure a co-worker(s) thought it would be funny as hell they actually helped me move on from the tragedy of the day. No one ever confessed who sent it, but a whole lot of them knew about it.

Every once in awhile someone brings it up. I tell a funny visual version of this story to my nephews and nieces using my arms as the victims legs. Sometimes we must find humor in the sad moments of our life. It is laughter afterall that keeps us going and helps us through things.

I love rubber duckies, and I love my orphaned rubber ducky most. And hopefully he and I gave you a a smile and a little laugh…

~~~ Till Laugh Again~~~  PS. Don’t forget to follow on Facebook for even more smiles and laughs!   Fan Page: Laughing At Everyday Life

Laughter or/a Smile: Some days are harder than others

I have a motto in life, laugh every day. No matter how bad you feel, no matter how much the world sucks, without laughter you feel no hope. For laughter is hope in disguise.  But what about those days you feel no ray of hope?

Those are the most important days to find a smile no matter how small or how quick it goes by. For that brief moment of laughter is sometimes the glue that gets you through your day, reminds you that it will be ok.

I promise you have that moment even if you don’t recall when it happened. Maybe it was an ant trying to carry a load to big, maybe it was a little boy telling him mommy he was big enough to tie his own shoes, or maybe it was an older couple riding in on their Harley with Santa Hats on their Helmets and the white ball flapping around.

You may not remember the little smile or chuckle, but it was there. And it was in that moment that you felt alive and it might be ok. Your conscious might not remember it, but your subconscious does.

When I challenge you to smile each day, all I’m asking is for you try and consciously feel the warmth of the smile. Even for that brief moment. The hope it gives will last longer. And don’t we all deserve a little hope even in our darkest days?

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(Wow, and not one sarcastic moment in that! – Whoops! till I typed that.  LOL  – oh well, guess I was just trying to give you your one brief moment of laughter – Cuz you know you just smiled!)