The more people Charlie meets the more people fall in love with her. Why? I have to say it's her smile. No matter who it is, the moment they make eye contact with her she flashes them a huge smile. In one small gesture she lowers your blood pressure and lifts your mood.
I rushed through the hallway with an arm full of laundry and tripped over a dog toy stubbing my toe on the baseboard. Expletive followed by more expletives spewed out of my mouth and my blood began to boil. I looked over at Charlie and she giggled. I guess she thought I was dancing for her. Or maybe she was trying to tell me to calm down and remember not to sweat the small stuff.
I have been able to remain calm and soothing while Charlie cries out in pain from her recent bout of teething and I don't feel stressed out when I need to figure out how to calm her other random cries. I now need to learn to have the same patience with myself.
How am I going to retrain my temperament? Do I need a mantra? Shall I meditate? I think the easiest way to keep my temperature neutral and not scare the bageezus out of Charlie every time I trip over a toy is to take a trick out of Charlie's bag, and flash myself a big ol' smile in the mirror. After all, smiles really are contagious.
