Sometimes it is so easy to get lost in our own problems and feel like even the littlest of troubles is the end of the world. Often these problems overwhelm us so much that we start neglecting what is really important, your best friend who is having a really bad week, your dog who has been feeling so lonely because you have been so busy, that clerk who you were overly short with because you were in such a rush to get home, you get the idea. It’s easy to get stuck in these sorts of ruts, but it’s also easy to break out, sometimes all you need is a little dose of perspective. A little reminder to cherish and appreciate those around you.

Everybody struggles, and when we remember to keep the world in perspective, we remember that our problems might pale in comparison to somebody else’s, and  we remember to treat the people around us with a little more kindness because who knows what they are having to deal with and you never know, maybe that kindness could change their entire day. Instead of letting people become the victims of a limited perspective, we can empower them with the simple act of a smile and a reminder that everything is going to be okay.

So smile today, because somewhere out there somebody is getting a healthy dose of perspective.

You’ve been hiking over an hour up a hill so steep you’re convinced it’s headed straight for the moon, when all of the sudden out of nowhere your stomach begins growling with the ferocity of a raging honey badger. You realize it’s been eons since you’ve eaten last.

As you pull out the bag of trail mix you packed along as an afterthought you can’t help but feel a tinge of preemptive disappointment. You’ve given up on the idea of trail mix ever being made right.  Still you figure you might as well suffer through a few bites for the energy boost it will inevitably provide. As you take your first bite, you pause as an explosion of pure deliciousness ignites your taste buds. You look down at the trail mix in awe realizing that this aint your ordinary trail mix. What you are eating is high quality, perfectly proportioned with a genius ratio of nuts, dried fruit,  and chocolate, mouth watering trail mix. You scarf down the rest of it like you haven’t eaten in days and end up feeling satisfied and strong enough to scale Mount Everest before dark.

Juuuust right!

So smile today, because somewhere out there somebody is eating a handful of the best trail mix of their life.

You’re late, you’re late, you’re late, for a very important date… well, you’re running late to school anyway. You spent a few too many minutes doing up your hair to look extra nice for that big presentation you’ve been dreading all week. As you pull into the parking lot, a cloud bursts and in the blink of an eye it is raining… no pouring. It is at this moment that a picture flashes into your mind of your umbrella leaning against the wall in your closet, back home. “Oh bother!” you think to yourself, realizing your delightful ‘do doesn’t stand a chance against the torrential downpour outside.

Using your backpack to shield you (at least somewhat) from the buckets of water assaulting you from the sky, you begin to walk to class. Just as you begin to let the feeling of utter defeat sink in, a helping hand reaches out to you, a helping hand that happens to be holding an umbrella definitely built for two. Before you even have time to comprehend what is happening you have escaped the monsoon and are being escorted to class by your brand new umbrella buddy, hairdo still perfectly intact.

Who says three’s a crowd?

So smile today, because umbrellas are coming to the rescue of hairdos everywhere.

Probably one of the best parts about fall is, well, just about everything pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin carving, pumpkin seeds… pretty much anything that involves the word pumpkin and you know it’s going to be good.

But all this pumpkin business doesn’t just spring up out of nowhere; in fact the best part about pumpkins is the magically magnificent place they come from. Every year as October comes around, people everywhere embark, hot chocolate in hand, on that journey to the pumpkin patch to find the pumpkin of their dreams. And in that sea of orange, that perfect pumpkin is awaiting. Whether it is round, small, oval, large, yellowish or bright beautiful orange there is a pumpkin out there just screaming your name.

Pumpkins for days!

So smile today, because somewhere out there somebody is finding their pumpkin soul mate.