Smile. Move. Talk.

I looked into the mirror this morning and smiled to myself. I noticed an old scar under my chin, and I was reminded of this story. I must have been eight years old. I was running around in the school with other kids and I fell flat on my chin on a concrete surface. The skin on my chin was cut open, and a skin flap was still attached on one side. I never got to see the raw wound in the mirror, but it must have been scary based on the reaction of others who witnessed the incident or tried to help me.

This was in the good old days of the 80’s where we didn’t even have landline phones at home or school. Ordinary wear and tear of childhood were managed and handled as such in the community:). I think, my arts and crafts teacher Ms. Karuna gave me the first aid (she along with our drawing teacher Ms. Anita used to manage the first aids). At the end of the day, I went home in the school bus as usual. In the evening, my grandpa took me to the local hospital to get the wound checked by the head nurse. The nurse recommended that I didn’t need any stitches as it had already been a few hours, but I still needed to get the wound dressed regularly over the next days.

What I distinctly remembered this morning was that it hurt a lot back then to smile or talk or move my chin even to chew my food. It was pretty funny though to see my own face later in the mirror with white bandage on my chin for several weeks. If I wasn’t conscious and I stretched the muscle around the chin it would bleed. This incident took place a few weeks prior to our annual sports day at school. I was supposed to participate in a spoon and marble race, one of the coolest games for kids. In this race, children would line up holding a spoon in their mouth, they would have to balance a marble in the spoon and run/walk/hop to the finish line. The child who reached the finish line first without dropping the spoon and marble, would be the winner (and we used to have the 1st and 2nd runner ups as well).

More than any physical pain, I remember being upset that I could not see how I would participate in the spoon and marble race. It simply hurt to stay still or move my chin even slightly and it bled a lot! I still continued to practice at home in our front yard in the loving care of my grandpa, my brother and my childhood friends. Eventually, I did participate in the race a few weeks later. I walked all the way with the spoon and marble in my mouth. I don’t remember if I won any trophy, but I do remember that I finished the race and I was thrilled!

I was happy this morning that I have my smile back. That scar now only has happy memories, one filled with joy and gratitude for people I have in my life.

Smile. Move. Talk. Relish your food and eat well. While you can. Give others the reason to do that.

(I originally published this article on LinkedIn. Hope this story brings a smile to you through medium and you, in turn, spread your smile to many more around the world.)