You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover

Smile

When I walked into my bathroom the cover of one of my favorite magazines made me take a second look. At first I looked because I wanted to see the shirt on the model on the front cover. But then I remembered something that happened over the summer which made me take a second closer look. We had some guests at our house over the summer for a cookout and a comment was made regarding these magazines [I also have to admit, that I LOVE reading these things. And my favorites include Cosmo, Glamour, People Style Watch and US Weekly. I like to know the dirt on the stars, they reference many web sites, recipes, diet and exercise, what's in and out for the seasons etc...]. I never think twice about putting my magazines "away" where people would not read or look at them. I keep them in a tin on the back of my toilette in the bathroom downstairs that everyone uses [as a mom sometimes I only get those few minutes in the bathroom to read them, maybe that’s too much information, o’well]. Ok, so I had the magazines in the same place I have kept them for years and someone made a comment when some of them were not there. The comment was something like; it's good that I put the "dirty" magazines away. [YES, DIRTY!!! REALLY?] Leading me to be [here it comes] "Fit To Be Tied"! "My magazines are not DIRTY! Why would someone think that? My sister is happily married and a mother of two children AND a librarian for God's Sake, AND we share them. I give her the ones I have already read. If they were "DIRTY" she would not read them"! [Yeah that was my logic at the moment, but for those of you who know my sister, you know that if something is “bad” she is not doing it!] I shouted. "And I could come up with a million reasons why someone would have even noticed they weren't there.  And guess why they weren't there? I JUST GAVE THEM TO THE LIBRARIAN! Curse, curse, curse..." [My fiancé actually told me the comment was made, probably not the best thing he has done but as I have said in the past we talk, A LOT. And yes, there was a magazine discussion].

After some time I got over it and after some time I even almost forgot about the comment. Until, I looked at the cover, which is why I looked really closely at the cover and read each title. And guess what? [This is not easy to say] They did look "dirty" the titles of the articles looked REALLY "dirty" I won't even write them but they did [I want to write them because they are also funny but I won't I will keep this PG]. [This is really hard to say] I know why they thought this! [Oops, maybe I shouldn't have yelled like that. Maybe we need to have another magazine discussion a "part two"].

One of the articles’s in particular jumped out at me, and no, it was not one of the "dirty" ones. The article referenced how a smile could get you anything you want. OF COURSE this leads me to think a million things, which is now leading to this blog.

Looking in the mirror I examined my smile thinking, I have been given many compliments on my smile. [So, come on smile work your magic, get me the new Dooney and Bourke that I just saw the other day while shopping. Or those Uggs that I saw in one of my "dirty" magazines, or that gray quilted messenger bag. How about the black Mercedes? The trip to the Island? The long weekend away with my best friends? The Disney trip with my family? Maybe, it could help me cut 2 minutes off of my mile times and I can actually be a top placer in the next road race? Maybe it could help me get money without working? I can be on to something here. Wait, maybe I better whiten my teeth?] I read the article and disappointed I found that it listed some research information, but no real way that my smile could lead to getting me anything I really want. It did say that smiling is healthy, when it's genuine. I love to laugh, smile and giggle.One of my favorite words is Giggle. I have a sign with the word on it in my living room. It makes me and others smile when they see it. It's a good word. Smiles are important; they do make other's feel better in some situations. And they certainly can be good for many things. But getting me what I want, probably not [smiles can have a contagion effect, smiles make others feel good and have an internal reaction within our brains, all this is Cosmo. I am glad I spent a lot of money for my graduate degree in Social Work, just to read some of the same things in Cosmo!].

I know I posted about being happy for what I have. And I am. I can name many aspects in my life that make me truly content and happy. However, I still want that purse and the boots. That's realistic right? I even discussed how to get the purse with one of my best friends [I often call on her to help me with life's major issues and the day I saw that purse and the price tag, this was an issue. I am not mentioning names, SHANNON, but she has assisted me with some major things in life. Best friends since the age of 5. I have an amazing group of friends that I have known for 30+ years. I have an entire post in the works on just them. Anyway, this was an issue for Shannon and she did give me some good advice as always].

Where am I really going with all of this? Wanting that purse and those boots? Sort of. Wanting things isn’t always a bad thing. It can be just the motivation we need to strive forward and work harder. When I think about what I wanted a few years ago and what I have today, I realize that my smile didn’t get me those things. I had a goal, I had a dream, I did things to make it happen. The road I took was not easy, it wasn’t paved with slippery magazine covers that I could slide through on [ok, that may be a bit cheesy but I thought it was a funny]. We don’t always see things as others see them, and whatever it is that our heart desires may not just come to us by the flash of a smile. Things may not always be what they seem, a “dirty” magazine may not really be “dirty” to the person who is reading it, a smile may not get us what we want but it doesn’t hurt to giggle often. Someone who has many things may have worked really hard to obtain them and dreams may not really be all that hard to obtain. Maybe by the winter I will have one or both of the items I currently want, maybe I will have saved the money but decided to buy the kids something instead, and maybe it’s just good enough to know that if I really want something I have the ability to get it. And maybe having a nice smile is just a bonus. [and maybe I will turn the magazines around in the bathroom so the covers aren’t facing everyone who enters the bathroom, or maybe not, it’s a good conversation topic]. I am just saying…