day 604: Put On A Happy Face

This last week I was in a number of Board level meetings. Some were great. Some, not so great. The ratio is par for the course. But, in this week I recognized a real difference. In one of the meetings I was in the mood was markedly better and, as a consequence, the meeting more fun and more productive. As I thought about this later, I reflected on the content of the meeting in comparison to the others. It was actually a tougher level of discussion and the content more serious than the other meetings, but still it was just better and more fun. What made the difference was the attitude of one person in the room (and it wasn’t me as I am not that good). One member of the meeting bounces into the meeting with a look that is nothing short of happy. And that smiling attitude and cheery disposition permeated the room and picked up the mood of all the rest of us. Even as we struggled through some real challenges and grappled with differing opinions, the mood did not change, nor did this one person’s look. Throughout the entire meeting a smile could be found and even with a little humor sprinkled throughout the conversation. There was not joking, just a lighter touch. I sure wish I could be more like this person. As far as I know it’s not a faith that drives this, but still it is real. Imagine the power and influence if there was a faith behind it when someone else were to say, “you are always so up and happy, why is that?”. We can all have a happy face if our hearts are right. Solomon tells us how to do so, “ A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.” If there was ever anyone in the room to have a happy face, it should be us. With what we have in our hearts, why would we ever let anything but a happy face radiate out to others?

Reference: Proverbs 15:13 (New Living Testament)