A little smile goes a long way.

I was talking to somebody very close to me who had received a gift. She was wondering how she could let the person know how grateful she was for the gift.

I advised that at this moment she did nothing, other than to say thank you. I went on to tell her that there would come an opportunity sometime to repay the kind thought.

That is after all the way of life.

I thought a bit more about it, as is my way, and I share this with you today. 

A man was walking along the road when he saw the stranger coming towards him. The stranger looked somewhat down. As he neared, he smiled to the stranger.

It seemed to have an effect on the man; he seemed to brighten up.

Later that day he remembered a past kindness that had on another day lifted his feelings. He sat down and wrote a letter to the friend.  The friend on receiving the letter felt so good that later that day he left a bigger than normal tip for the waitress. The waitress was so surprised that she had got this tip on the same day as she had been given a tip for a horse race. She placed the whole tip on the horse to win, and it did just that. 

She collected her winnings, and on the way back to work she gave part of it to a poor man sitting on the street corner. The old man had not eaten for two days and bought himself a meal. Feeling better he headed home to the hostel where he lived. As he neared the place he saw a little puppy, clearly abandoned and looking hungry and afraid. He smuggled it up to his room and gave it what he could manage, and made it warm.

Later that night when all the residents of the hostel were sleeping, a resident let a cigarette butt slip from his fingers as he fell asleep. The matress caught fire. The puppy on smelling the smoke caused a commotion of barking. The barking wakened the whole household and everybody was saved from harm. 

One of the residents saw his lucky escape as a motivation for improvement. He worked hard and one day he became a doctor and went on to save many more lives. 

All of this because of one smile. What had the smile cost? Not a thing and yet look at the ripple effects it caused. 

As the buddha reminded us, we are never aware of the effects of our actions so we should make every action a good one.

Have a great day and make the most of the extra hour, though I uspect like me it is already used up lying in bed.