Happiness

A few weeks ago I was traveling in South East Asia with a very good friend.  One of our goals of the trip was to take meaning out of our adventures and try to learn more about ourselves.  One girl I met really had an impact on me.  We were on a 2 day boat trip on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.  The tour was very structured and we always seemed end up at places with hundreds of other tourists with locals luring us to buy overpriced items, not my idea of a true cultural experience.  As the day progressed, we kept getting herded from bus to boat to bus ride and we both grew tired and cranky to say the least.  One younger lady, who I will never forget, kept smiling throughout the entire day and had an infectious laugh.  It was hard not to smile when being around her.  She continually asked questions to our guide and was truly getting the most out of the trip as she could.  By the end of the day she had made friends with everyone and knew virtually everyones names.  I am sure you have met at least one person like this in your life.  These are the people that can impact a whole group and lift the moods of everyone.  I took away a lot from this lady, everyday I try to emanate her spirit and smile in the face of difficulties.