Last weekend a friend of mine who now lives in Washington, USA, called up for a casual chat and we were just chatting about what was going on in each other's lives. She shared an experience or rather a kinda lesson learnt which I found real interesting. She said that sometime back there was heavy rains in the place where she lived and because of that there was a huge traffic jam. People were just stuck on the road for hours together and there were people who reached home at 4am next morning.
My friend had actually rented a car that day and she had to go to the car rental office to return the car. One of the people from the rental office were supposed to drop her back home but because of this traffic jam they could not get a person to drop her right away and she had to wait for some time at the car rental office. Right from school days, she's been a very very organised person and very punctual. She's always on time and its hard to see her lazying around or just simply sitting somewhere doing nothing. I didn't find it surprising when she said that she found it very irritating to be stuck there at the rental office, not able to do anything, but wait till things got a little better and someone could drop her home.
She said that while she was waiting there, irritated and angry and wondering when she'd get home, she was just listening to the people at the rental office chatting with each other. Due to the rain and the cold weather, there was heavy mist and the road was quite slippery and skiddy, resulting in quite some accidents happening. The people at the rental office were discussing about these accidents when one of the guys who worked there said this. He said that the only way during this time to avoid accidents was to keep smiling. He said that if people tried rushing to get home or were angry or upset or irritated, it would just increase the chances of an accident happening. But if the person went through the mist and the storm and the rain, smiling, he would be safe. He said that the situation was so bad that getting upset only hurt the person itself and would not help better the situation in any way. And Smiling would help the person relax and concentrate better and hence guarantee safety.
When my friend heard this she realised what the guy had just said did make a lot of sense. She said that after that she just relaxed and instead of sitting there angry, she decided to make the best use of the time while she was there. She started admiring the scenery around - the mist, the rain.... She also spent the time calling up her family back in India and chatting up with them and then calling up her sisters. By the time she reached home, it was late night but she said that 'smiling' through the situation did help her. No matter what, she had to face the mist, the rain, the traffic jam. But going through it smiling, brought her out relaxed and happy whereas had she stayed irritated, she would have reached home tired and bitter.
This did teach me a huge lesson. I had been running around, for the last few days, trying to get some important work done and nothing seemed to be happening. I was getting upset and angry and really frustrated and discouraged. This taught me that I could not help better the situation in anyway by getting grumpy and I was just tiring myself with the way I was trying to face things. I keep reminding myself about the guy at the car rental who said 'Smiling' takes you through safely.
One of my friends has a huge poster in her room reading - 'I don't like people who don't smile'. Whenever I see that I can't help smiling. There are situations where we are completely helpless and worrying about them only brings a headache. Smile through. God loves smiling people. Smiling through a storm shows we completely trust God and know that He is in control.
Here's a song I learnt at School:
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm
Smile at the storm
Smile at the storm
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm
As we go sailing home.
Proverbs 15:13 - A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. (AMP)
Proverbs 17:22 - A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. (AMP)
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