December 12, 2025
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
Thích Nhất Hạnh
When I was in fourth grade, my teacher, Mr. Lewis, would call on me to answer questions. Every time, I’d respond the same way: a wide, sheepish smile — too shy to say anything at all. He started calling me “Smiley”. That became my nickname that year. I was the kid who always smiled.
Now my daughter is in Kindergarten, and her teacher and her classmates use the same word to describe her: Smiley. I’d like to think I passed that along to her — the gift of waking up with a smile. Of seeing life for what it is — fleeting, miraculous, and worthy of joy. We’re here. We’re alive. We get to witness this world. How could we not smile?
Too often we get lost in our mind, lost in the grind. We make up problems to give ourselves meaning and significance. But if we strip it all away, and just wake up, what’s left is enough. Breath. Light. A beating heart. And that’s the gift that helps me start every day the same. With a smile across my face, a day that begins with gratitude. Just like when I was a kid.