Honestly, through yesterday's exercise I was reminded again to pause for a moment and smile...
The soreness felt in my cheeks became an indicator — apparently, my facial muscles rarely smile. My default state is always serious. Exploring logic more often than the heart. The heart becomes untrained and less sensitive.
How comfortable it is to cultivate feelings. The heart that was initially closed, now expands. The chest feels spacious and hollow. Divine light enters, illuminating the heart that is open to Him.
| By bringing God into presence, He also helps clean the dirt in my heart. It feels comfortable when this heart is clean again and happiness arrives. |
We live in a world full of information. Every day there are dozens, even hundreds of things that enter our heads — news, notifications, worries, a never-ending to-do list. The mind works hard. But the heart? It is often left locked.
The detox we think of most often is a bodily detox: drinking juice, reducing sugar, avoiding preservatives. But the body is not the only thing that needs cleaning. The heart also needs a detox — from accumulated bitterness, from disappointing expectations, from thoughts that eat away at us.
Dian's way of doing a heart detox is simple: pause for a moment. Take a breath. Smile — even though it feels strange because the cheek muscles are not used to it. And then, bring God into your awareness.
Not a long and complicated prayer. Just an awareness: He exists. He sees. He cares. And with the presence of that awareness, something in the chest feels looser.
| The closed heart begins to expand. The chest feels spacious. Light enters the space that was previously closed. |
Perhaps today you are very tired. Perhaps there are things weighing on you that you haven't had time to clear up. Perhaps your smile today feels heavy.
Try to pause for a moment. Feel your breath. Realize that you are still here, still given an opportunity.
And smile — even if just a little. Because a smiling heart is a heart that is ready to be cleansed.
— Dian W. Syarief