Smile

People talk about it, but it is true.  There seems to be nothing that promotes a feeling in me that all is ok like a smile.
But some smiles mean more than others.  Like a smile in the midst of trial or tragedy.  A knowing that despite everything, everything is ok.  Curve balls come my way for sure.  March 9 this year I lost my brother.  I wept many tears, but I knew it was ok.  I felt the loss deeply, but I knew he was better off.  I smile knowing it was not “good-bye” but “until we meet again”.
People I know have been through or are going through some deep waters.  Cancer, the need for operations, hearing “we have done all we can”.  Things I would wish on no-one. Yet in the midst of tragedy there is something deeper that brings a smile.
I had a dream the other night and I have no idea what it was about.  All I remember was that every sentence provoked laughter from me.  Whatever it was about, I found incredibly amusing.
Every definition I read had one thing in common.  All said a smile was characterized by an upturned corner of the lips.  Makes sense really.  I can identify immediately a smiley face icon because the corners of the mouth are upturned.
There are different types of smiles though.  Sometimes it is a wry smile.  It does not seem to me that is a good one when associated with mocking, scoffing or sarcasm.  But sometimes it is just an expression of someone who has a dry sense of humour, or what happens is just ironic.
Sometimes things just do not go the way I had planned.  In my head it all panned out one way, and in reality it panned out differently.
I thought that was on display big time when the Olyroo’s lost in hockey to India.  The Olyroo’s were favoured to take out gold. India had other ideas.  At the end of the match the Indians were ecstatic.  The smiles could not be wiped off their faces.  For the Olyroo’s it was vastly different.  Tears flowed.
I must admit my compassion was lacking when I thought “get over it.”  Admittedly their disappointment was great, and they had worked very hard.  But sometimes what is in our head does not turn out that way.  At the very least they had made someone else happy.  I know all about that as I do it regularly in table tennis.
The thing is the world did not end.  I was able to garden in lockdown.  It seems to me sometimes a loss is more valuable than a win.  A win is always more desirable, but often it teaches me less than a loss does (based on that I should be a very smart table tennis player).
To me it is all about perspective.  Sometimes a loss is a win.  Knowing that brings a smile to my face.