Thoughts about thoughts

The most perishable item of all is—thought. Imagine having a happy thought, bright and warm. Leave it for an hour, and a doubt creeps in. Another hour, and it morphed completely into the opposite of what it had been at the beginning—it turned into a hostile, destructive thing, festering in your mind and contaminating your other thoughts.

Not convinced? Let’s take an example. Think a thought of love, happy and fulfilling, of someone you love smiling at you. A moment later you wonder where she is. An uneasy feeling settles in the pit of the stomach: is she safe, is she feeling well, is she seeing someone else? It bothers you so much that you can’t resist calling her. She doesn’t pick up, and your thoughts turn the darkest shade of black. You imagine the worst scenario: she is lying in the hospital, or bleeding by the side of the road; or cuddling with someone with the phone switched off.

Of course, some thoughts have the unnatural ability to change back from black into pink, as it would happen the moment your darling returns the call, explaining she couldn’t pick it up for the valid reason.

Other thoughts, though, are the dangerous ones. The thought of not being appreciated at work or with friends, if not dispersed by a positive interaction, can mutate into deep dissatisfaction, even depression, and that is when a person can become dangerous for himself and the people around him.

You must be wondering what on earth am I rumbling about? Actually, I am just expanding on the blog of a few days ago: the smile I write about touched me deeper than I thought possible. It made me think about my own attitude, which was altering between moodiness, frustration and outright hostility. I thought: what if I changed the face I show to the outside world? What if, instead of the scowl, I approach the world with a smile?

It isn’t easy, after years of frowning, to suddenly wear a smile, but I am trying and the world is reacting. I can’t remember when was the last time so many people smiled and waved at me, as they did this past weekend. All because I smile and nod at them.

So, from now on, let’s paint the world in happy colors, using smile as a paintbrush.