HELP SOMEONE LOOSE WEIGHT

As the New Year dawns I am once again struggling with weight gain.  My eating is way out of control and I need to pull in the reigns, but my heart is not in it.  I kept my last weight loss off for 7+ years and I am totally not ready to start over.  It’s a new year.  It must be time to make a resolution. Right?  Well… that ain’t gonna happen. There is nothing easier to ignore than a resolution. I have plans. We will see how they work out.  But physical weight is not really what is on my mind right now.  Spiritual weight is.

Did you know that smiling can help make you and others healthier people?  Yes, SMILING.  It can be said that once someone smiles, they feel better.  So smile.  But don’t just smile, smile at someone.  Share your smile.

Have you ever been smiled at by someone you don’t even know and had no other contact with:  As in looking up in a restaurant and meeting the eyes of someone across the room who smiles at you.  Do you smile back because suddenly you feel a smile come on to your own face in response to their smile?  Have you ever been walking along and met eyes with some stranger and smiled at them while they smiled at you and maybe even exchanged a greeting?  Did that make you feel better, even lighter for a minute or two, at least?

Living where I do, I cannot leave this building without running into people everywhere I go.  Urban lifestyle, you know.  Some are hard working employees or college students;  some are down and out homeless people; and some are just a variety of neighbors who may be retired or disabled or just getting started in life as singles or couples.  It is not a neighborhood of the successful or wealthy.  But it is a very large neighborhood full of state office buildings, small businesses, two colleges, and multiple apartment buildings. There are always a lot of people walking around.  There are always a lot of people who could use the lift of a smile.

When was the last time you smiled at a perfect stranger or even responded to a smile from someone who is a stranger to you?  Sharing our smile is one of the simplest ways that we can make life a little lighter for others.

As for ourselves, how much weight do we carry around with us in our daily routine?  Do we really experience the Joy of the Lord in our daily walk?  Do we let that show on our faces?  Or do we carry our own load and let that show on our faces?  That’s against the rules, you know.  Jesus said to let HIM carry our load – whatever load that is:  Not enough sleep; too much on our work plate; problems at home, problems in scattered places where people we know are in some kind of trouble.  Whatever our load or burden, we are to give it to Him and let Him carry it.  We are to loose that weight.  We are to lighten up and get on with the program of how much He loves and cares for us.  Perhaps we should be smiling so much that we don’t even realize we are doing it.  That may make your coworkers and friends think we are crazy, but it will “spitefully” make their day a little lighter, too. 

This New Year let’s help others loose a little weight by smiling at them. :) We will notice a weight loss, too.  May we give and return smiles until it hurts and then keep doing it anyway as we progress though the year 2013.  Happy New Year to all.  God bless you!