A Simple Smile

Living Large in Miami

I recently wrote a piece on Byron's Drift Facebook group based on Proverbs 17:22, which talks about a joyful and cheerful heart, what that does, and what happens if you don't have that.

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A joyful, cheerful heart brings healing to both body and soul. But the one whose heart is crushed struggles with sickness and depression.

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I was 18 years old. I studied music and jazz piano at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. I had to walk from where I lived to the music school every morning for my classes. Unfortunately, I rarely attended many courses during my first year, so I had such a high-grade point average—spoken with my tongue firmly planted in check. However, I was the most improved piano player. I didn't go back to Miami after that. There's a whole story behind that.

The distance between where I lived and the Music School was probably a good half mile. I would guess. I mean, it was just off campus. As I would walk in the morning, as you know, you run into everybody going to classes and moving about their day. I had a habit of smiling at people as they passed. This was something that my mom taught me.

She encouraged me to express a simple smile. She would say, “You know, a simple smile can encourage someone in their day.” I was always like, Yeah, okay. I always felt weird smiling and saying hi, but I would say hi or offer some salutation.

One day, as I walked across campus near the end of the year, this young lady stopped me. I thought, where were you six or seven months ago? It blew my mind as she said, “I don't know your name. I don't know who you are. I don't know what you study. I don't know anything about you. But I want to thank you because almost every day I walk across campus and we pass each other, you always smile and say hi. It was such a joy and so helpful in my day.”
I was obeying my mom.

But after all these years, reading that verse in Proverbs struck a chord with me. Byron, it doesn't take that much for me to offer a smile and a simple Hello, to look up from my day and offer somebody else some hope. I just wanted to get to where I was going. I never got her name. She never got mine. She went on her way, and I never saw her again. You know, wherever she is today, I hope she's doing well. And maybe that smile changed something in her life.

When I read that verse, it brought this story of how a joyful, cheerful heart brings healing. A bit of refreshing that I offered to somebody is something we can all offer to others. Right?

Your smile and your Hello can change somebody's life. Bring joy. Bring the cheer that your heart may be refreshed and healed today. Yeah? Have a great week. Talk to you soon.

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