Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, July 28, 2024. This was originally presented by Lloyd Newell on Sept. 13, 2015.
Life was not meant to be an unending sequence of beautiful days. But beautiful things can happen even on gloomy days, and often those beautiful things happen when we find a way to make someone smile.
It usually doesn’t take much. Even a small spark of light can brighten someone’s darkness. A kind word of appreciation or encouragement, a cheerful greeting, a sincere compliment, an invitation to join your circle of friends or even just your conversation — these simple gestures cost you nothing and yet can be a great gift. The key is that they point our hearts toward others rather than ourselves.
So much of our daily life is centered on self — our own needs, wants, demands and responsibilities. They’re needful, but it need not be all consuming. Perhaps we could benefit from looking less in the mirror and more into the hearts of others. It may take practice, and it certainly takes some effort, but generosity of spirit can become a habit of the heart, even a way of life.
Sometimes it’s tempting to assume that the happiest people are those with the most prosperity or even the fewest troubles. But, of course, that isn’t true. That person you know who seems to be unfailingly happy surely has had her share of heartache and difficulty. Her life hasn’t been easy or perfect, and some days are better than others. She’s just decided that those hard times will not be her focus. Instead, she focuses on making other people smile. She made kindness a choice, and it’s now become a habit. She’s happy because she is determined to make other people happy.
Ultimately, self-centeredness is a lonely place to be. So, if you seek for more love and beauty in your life, spread some around in other people’s lives first. Make someone smile today, and without fail, you’ll find yourself smiling too.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
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