Mr. Dawson was bad-tempered and everyone in town knew it. Kids knew not to go into his yard to pick an apple, because old Dawson, they said, would come after you with his gun.
One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was walking out with her friend Amy. They had to go by Dawson's house, but as they got close, Janet saw him sitting on his front porch and suggested they cross over the street. Like most, she was afraid of the man.
Amy said not to worry. When they got close enough, Dawson looked up with his usual frown(皱眉), but when he saw it was Amy, he gave a broad smile.
Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight with her they were going to listen to music and play games. Dawson told them that sounded fun, and gave them each an apple.
Later, Janet asked Amy, "Everyone says he isn't generous. Actually he's the meanest man in town. How come he was so nice to us?"
Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house, he wasn't very friendly, but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled. It took a while, but one day he half-smiled back.
After a while, he started smiling real smiles and then talked to her. She said he always offers her an apple now, and is always very kind.
"An invisible smile?" questioned Janet.
"Yes," answered Amy, "My grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn't afraid and pretended he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, sooner or later he would really smile."
If we remember that everyone wears an invisible smile, we too will find that most people can't resist our smile after a while.
It's so easy to get caught up in every
day life that we forget how simply we can bring cheer to ourselves and others. Giving a smile takes so little effort; let's make sure that we're not the ones that others have to pretend are wearing invisible smiles.
He smiled and .
微信扫码预览、分享更方便
