A Smile Returning to his Face

• ·         Inspired by the song “One of these days” by Tim McGraw

Lynden awoke this morning.  While brewing his coffee, which would take only about five minutes; he was quick to light up a cigarette to commemorate a new day which lacked hope.  The impending stormy weather that greeted him highlighted the foreboding nature of a new day.

His life was now a trial which passed his capacity to endure.  Is familiar responsibilities drained all his energy and defined the nothingness that he now knew.

Bitterly, he took a sip from his steaming hot cup of coffee and took a drag off his cigarette. 

Horrendously coughing, he sensed the chillness in the air that surrounded him. 

He took another sip of his coffee and another hit off of his cigarette. 

He looked outside and noticed the impending storm was drawing nearer. 

His family awoke.  He and his wife had been married for ten years now.  Nothing was wrong with the relationship; it was not the cause of his angst.  Emily was beautiful and he loved her; however, his life remained empty.  He had a young son, Sean, who was just seven years old.  Similarly, he loved his son.  However, his joy of life had long disappeared.

His family awoke.    He had his morning routine and they had theirs.  They managed to share breakfast together every morning.  Emily didn’t work and his young son, Sean, was an excellent young student at his elementary school. 

While Lynden was shaving and showering, Emily made breakfast.

Sitting down for breakfast, Emily greeted Lynden for a new morning with a smile upon her face.

“Looks like rain,” Emily said in a blissful manner; the rain brought to her invigoration with the innocence of a child.

Their son sat eating his eggs, bacon, and toast.  The two adults partook in their own conversation.

“Things at the factory have been tough lately,” he shared with Emily.  “We are expecting layoffs again.”

Lynden had been working at the factory for ten years and was not at risk of losing his job.  A member of the union, he was sure of that point.

“It said on the news last night that we can expect a raise in taxes again.  I don’t know how that’s going to turn around the recession.”

Watching CNN grew tiring, with news which always seemed to mirror the trials in his own life.

As the two adults discussed the routines of their lives and current events, their young son stared blissfully at the morning cartoons which were visible from the kitchen.

.

Emily’s day was set.  After breakfast, she would take Sean to school.  She, for the past two years, had been studying to receive her degree in human relations at the local university.  The idol time she had available taking care of household responsibilities, left much time to follow her education.

Emily was unaware of Lynden’s depression and her life was filled with unabashed joy and bliss.  She loved her husband and she loved her son.  She had nothing in life that would interfere with her contentment.

.

Traffic was slow.  No rain yet, the sun was beginning to part the clouds.   The slippery road coupled with the sun in his eyes made for difficult driving.  Hardened heart, he lit a cigarette and took another sip from his coffee.

The work-day was similarly uneventful.  It was a union job and it paid well.  However, it was agonizing work that left him feeling sore and very tired at the end of every day.

Assembling bicycles from their component pieces, the monotony uneventfully created an atmosphere of servitude.  Although he had been working there for some time, he had no close friends.  The familiar faces seemed distant. 

There must be a route to happiness, he just couldn’t find it.  He was left amiss of emotions.  When he was young, he had enjoyed the typical frivolities of youth.  He had many friends and all he needed for a complete life.  He had fallen passionately in love with his wife and had been married since he was twenty-five.  But now, all joy had disappeared.

He must find a way to reignite the spark in his heart.  Consciously one morning, awaking early, tired as he was, he found a way to put a smile on his face. 

“Take hold of the reins,” someone had once told him, “and point your life in the direction you want it to go.”

It seemed like an unlikely scenerio, but with this thought in mind, he began to do just that.

He awoke in the morning.  Consciously attempting to regain his vitality, he gazed upon the morning sun.  He, typically, lit a cigarette and poured himself a cup of coffee; however, it was not to in angst, but in celebration of what God may have in store for him. 

After a couple of weeks, the ride to work, although slow and filled with heavy traffic, did not seem like a trial.  He simply smiled and listened to the radio as he realized the beauty of all that was around him.

He was able to consciously change his outlook on life.  As surely as he awoke to misery every morning six months ago, he now awoke to joy.

It was spring and his son had a Little League Baseball game today.  The mundane routine of watching his son play ball out of parental responsibility now brought with it the joy of the love a father can feel for his son.  He sat in the stands.  No more cigarettes or coffee, he enjoyed a soda and a hot dog.

His son stood up to bat.

“Strike one” the umpire said as Sean swung and missed.

Frantically cheering for Sean in the stands behind home plate, the joy for life that Lynden had known in the past returned to him. 

The pitcher threw the ball cleanly over the plate.  Sean swung the bat and the ball went flying over the third basemen’s head.  It was a crisp line drive and all the parents watching their children play Little League cheered.

Lynden’s had rediscovered the miracle of life and with it all that it has to offer.