A picture doesn't always say a thousand words

I was just looking through some pictures that have been taken in the last 6 months of our family. I am very grateful we are able to have pictures. I do love those tangible memories. Most of the pictures that we take in our families, we expect everyone to stop and smile. Well, I was just thinking about how life doesn't always produce smiles and we don't often take pictures of those times when we are feeling sad, frustrated, or discouraged. These are all very real feelings and yet we don't want to record them for our posterity. Why? I sometimes think that we often stop and smile at people and things just like we do a camera and it may not be a true indication of how we feel. Part of me thinks that it is good. You have heard of the saying, "fake it til you make it?" I think we can fake the smile until it is real. But I also feel like life sucks the positive energy out of you sometimes and it's hard to wake up each day and fake the smile. And why don't we want others to see us that way? I think sometimes it's a fear we have of others seeing that we struggle. Or having them see our weakness and insecurities. I also think that it is easier for us to be unhappy rather than trying to be happy. I have a son named Damian and he used to always give me a fake smile when I took his picture. He is much better at giving a real smile now, but if you take a look at his fake smile, you can see how painful it looks and how much effort is put into giving a fake smile. This is the same person who says, "it's hard to be good, Momma." I am telling you, sometimes it is hard to smile for real, but smiling is good. My point in all of this is, I am going to allow myself to feel the whole range of feelings, but I am also going to try to fake the smile til I make it more so that eventually my smile becomes real and it rubs off on others because I also believe that smiling is contagious and if I can try to make people a little happier, I will, even if sometimes it is hard work.