My Entire Life Mission is About Bringing More Smiles to the World

Why the heck would I want to do that?

Life is a rollercoaster. There are happy times and there are excruciatingly painful times.

The more pain we experience, the more sensitised we become to those happy moments. And that is how I discovered how beautiful “happy” can feel.

That is the feeling that drives me to write every day, to bring smiles to others.

So, a book project, you say? Why would I love to be involved?

1. I love to write.

That is the simplest answer.

But, more so, if I can impact more lives in a positive way through my writing, I will jump at the opportunity.

2. My life, so far, has been a journey of self-discovery

I have explored life in many different ways and seen the world from many different angles.

I travelled young and fell in love with the spiritual drive of ancient cultures. So much so that my university years were spent finding yoga in London instead of drinking at the student bar. I developed a deep fascination with Tibetan Buddhism and became involved with the Tibetan refugee community.

Such was my drive and desire for something other than what Britain had to offer me. Funnily enough, after trying to escape, I developed a deep love and reverence for land right here in Southwest England.

3. Shit happens and you deal with it

Unfortunately, naivety sent me on a negative trajectory. Confused by what love was meant to feel like, I fell into an abusive relationship.

Honestly, I was shocked to realise that I had fallen into a violent and frightening relationship. I thought that was what happened to other women, not to me.

Apparently, that’s very common.

Getting out of it was a process of another level of self-discovery. And counselling myself to understand how, why, and where I could go from there, was self-empowerment on another level.

I believe that the lessons I went through have given me a lot to give to others.

4. A journey of health, well-being, and nutritional understanding

My interest in healthy living began accidentally when, at the age of fifteen, I decided, out of the blue, to turn vegetarian. I discovered a love for food that I had never had before and it eventually took me down the route of learning to grow organically, bake, and cater for groups.

I ended up catering for permaculture courses, yoga retreats and more.

5. Positivity and gratitude were the biggest saving graces in my life

There was a time when I was at the absolute lowest point in my life. Somewhere, I learned about a gratitude project that was unlike any other gratitude practice I had heard about (and failed at), and I decided to give it a try.

It was to take a photograph every day of something that I was grateful for and share it on Instagram.

At the time, I didn’t have an Instagram account so I created one especially for it and didn’t tell any friends about it. I just did it privately.

It wasn’t about the sharing, it was about doing it.

I can honestly say, hand on heart, that this gratitude practice changed my life at that moment in time. It has given me a deep reverence for the little things surrounding me, and the impact that positivity can have in our lives.

With that, I also have a deep reverence for the importance of giving space to grief. Positive living isn’t all about sunshine and roses, it’s about acceptance.

It made me see that life is for living in the most joy-giving ways, including laughing. I discovered I could make myself laugh like a lunatic. and then that I could write things that made me laugh. It turned out they can make other people laugh too.

I know how it feels to have my energy and joy sucked out of me.

But, more importantly, I know what it feels like to take control, change the trajectory of one’s life, and lift oneself out of a dark place.

I know the joy that can be felt when we start to treat ourselves with love, kindness, respect and gratitude. I know the healing that can happen on a deep level, both physically and emotionally, when we stop allowing the beliefs, words, and actions of others to impact the way we feel about ourselves, and, instead, choose a path of self-forgiveness and self-love.

I know how hard that can be to begin to do and, for this reason, if I do nothing else in the world, I will do my best to bring smiles to people’s hearts.

Smiles borne from the simplest things in life, nature, food, the right company, the right physical and mental activity, and the simple joys that can be spread.

These past years have shown me that I can reach people in ways I had never previously imagined. I have learned I can touch people by listening to them, allowing them to feel what they need to feel, and letting them know that they are not alone.

And I have learned that I can impact people through my words.

This is why I write.

And that is why I would be overjoyed to be a contributor to the Dancing Elephant Press Book Project.

One of my biggest joys has been to write about my experiences and, by doing so, bring value to others.

I receive a great deal daily from the beautiful writers around me.

And I have a lot to give.

Namaste 🙏

Thanks for reading!

Here is a beautiful and much-needed message from Shameem Anwar about the need to refrain from judgement, and to keep an open heart and an open mind to the innate goodness of humans.