Some Things To Smile, Cry and Think About

As this year is coming to its end it's nice to stop and think for a while. What we have, what we don't have, what we want, what we don't want, what we need, what we don't need and re-evaluate our lives.

(source: 1, 2, 3)

I came across this interesting post 101 Short Stories That Will Leave You Smiling, Crying and Thinking. It's a brief list of stories that have been submitted to the Makes Me Think, an online community where people share daily life stories that provoke deep thought and inspire positive change. The 101 Short Stories... are worth reading. I know I laughed and cried over many of those! Here are a few:

4. Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road holding him and crying.  And just before he died, he licked the tears off my face.  MMT

12. Today, I was working in a coffee shop when 2 gay men walked in holding hands.  As you might expect, heads started turning.  Then a young girl at the table next to me asked her mom why 2 men were holding hands.  Her mom replied, “Because they love each other.”  MMT

21. Today, while I was driving my grandfather to his doctor’s appointment, I complained about hitting 2 red lights in a row.  My grandfather chuckled and said, “You always complain about the red lights, but you never celebrate the green ones.”  MMT

39. Today, I was traveling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe.  He said he hadn’t eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy.  Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was eating.  The first thing the man said was, “We can share it.”  MMT

53. Today, I asked my 6 year old son what he wants to be when he grows up.  He said, “Mommy, all I want to be is happy.”  MMT

61. Today, my mother passed away after a long battle with cancer.  My best friend lives 2000 miles away and called to comfort me.  While on the phone, he asked, “What would you do if I showed up at your house and gave you the biggest hug in the world?”  “I would surely smile,” I replied.  And then he rang my doorbell.  MMT

66. Today at the Atlanta airport, as I walked off a plane dressed in my Army uniform, a little girl grabbed my hand and asked me if I would be going back overseas soon.  I told her I would be in 6 weeks.  She smiled and said, “Can you please tell my daddy that I love him.  My mommy told me he’s never coming home from over there.”  MMT

70. Today, my father told me, “Just go for it and give it a try!  You don’t have to be a professional to build a successful product.  Amateurs started Google and Apple.  Professionals built the Titanic.”  MMT

86. Today, I asked my mentor – a very successful business man in his 70’s – what his top 3 tips are for success.  He smiled and said, “Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do something no one else is doing.”  MMT

90. Today, I was walking home from work in the pouring rain without an umbrella.  I was walking just behind an elderly man who had an umbrella.  As we both passed under the overhang to an apartment building, he stopped, turned around and handed me the umbrella.  He said, “This is my stop and you look like you need an umbrella.  Pass it along someday when the opportunity arises.”  MMT

101. Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I’m working on for my Psychology class.  When I asked her to define success in her own words, she said, “Success is when you look back at your life and the memories make you smile.”  MMT

Go ahead and read the rest of them here and tell me whether you were touched or not.