During my time in dialysis there were many things that helped me and I want to share some of these experiences. In this blog, I want to share with you one of the most valuable quotes and the lessons that I have found.
As a dialysis patient, I did not want people to know many of the things that I faced day to day. Whether I was on dialysis or not that day, there were some things that I faced, I would not want my worst enemy to face. When you think of life itself, life can be difficult, now add kidney disease on top of that there are even greater challenges that you may face. But here is the good news about life. It will not give you more than you can take, in fact, these challenges that you face help you to grow and learn. Life is for the student to take and apply to their lives so that one day they can teach that experience to others that need those lessons.
So how did I take the negative of the situation of dialysis and try to make it more positive? I would say that I reached into that vault in my mind and took a lesson or a quote and used it for my benefit.
Keep Smiling, It Makes The World A Better Place.
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This is one of the lessons that I was taught at age 21. It was a very difficult time in my life then, many things were not going my way. It was during this time that one person said to me, “ Anthony, keep smiling, it makes the world a better place. Oh, how I love this quote, and I have used it over and over and over again in my lifetime. Especially when I was in dialysis, it would help me and uplift me and those that were around me as well. Thinking about it this way, not only did it help me, it helped those other dialysis patients around me.
Who knows the impact of a smile? The one that it is given to, they understand what an impact that smile had on them. During my time on dialysis I tried to always have a smile and here are the reasons why.
It may make someone else’s day.- Just think that someone may be having a worse day than you are having, and you smile. It may just pick up another traveler’s weary spirit and give them the strength to keep pressing one.
If I had time to frown, then I had time to smile- Time is valuable and when I add the time it takes to smile versus the time it takes to frown. There is no difference. I would say using that time to smile is a wise choice to make.
With these two lessons in mind, what makes a smile powerful enough to change someone’s mind, their perspective, or even their world? It is as simple as this. By taking the time to smile. You feel better about yourself and what you may be facing. That feeling if caught in a smile holds the potential to make someone else feel better about themselves, and before they know it they are smiling as well.
A smile is ever giving, and I know that in the time that we live in, many may not be able to see someone smile if we are out in public. But not only can a smile be seen it can also be felt and that my friends is a wonderful feeling.
So as you go through the day “Smile My Friend it Makes The World, Your World Someone Else’s World a Better Place.”
Kidney Trails 