"Pick a Word, Paint a Story #09."

Steem greetings @everyone and welcome to my blog as I share my thoughts about the contest topic “Pick a word, paint a story”. The words contestants are required to choose from are “Night, Smile and Stone”. For this contest, I will pick the word “smile”.

Along my way in life, I have realised that no matter the situation that one is going through, one learns to always put on a smile.

Life in itself has a way of treating us either good or bad but in either way, do not forget to put on a smile because no condition in life is permanent unless you decide to make your condition permanent. Smile over the storms of life because it is that smile that will give you a reason to keep going because there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

^{This was last year at the funeral of my late brother and I still put on a smile}

Last year was one of my worst years ever because I lost someone so special to me. Death had been knocking on his door 13 years ago when the doctors declared that he had just a few hours to live due to heart failure. He was the person who taught me to always smile and not let my problems reflect on my face. Even when doctors declared him 3 hours to live, he smiled and lived an extra 12 years before he died. He refused a heart transplant and moved around doing his things as if there was no tomorrow. Never a dull moment with him because everywhere he went or passed, people had a reason to join him and put on a smile.

Along my way in life, I also realised that there is no need to frown but always smile because when you smile, you increase your life span. When you frown, you reduce your lifespan, so why not out on a smile or do you prefer to frown and reduce your lifespan on earth?

Always find a reason to smile because life is too short to not smile. Your smile lights up your life and radiates to everyone that comes closer to you. No matter the storms of life you are facing, smile because the smile will confuse your enemies and put the devil to shame. Do not give them a reason to laugh at you but rather confuse them with your smile.

While putting on a smile be aware of friends putting on a fake smile infront of you. Fake smiles add no value in your life but rather a means to mock your predicaments behind your back. Watch out for those fake smiles but always put on a genuine smile. Fake smiles only please onlookers but deep inside of you, the pain and agony are still much present and eat silently until you face death.

In sum, always give yourself a reason to smile because it gives you hope to continue your life journey without losing hope. Ensure that your smile is genuine and not fake because fake smiles add no value to your life. I'm inviting @josepha, @goodybest and @aviral123 to participate in the contest.