The Grass is Smiling
There are many experiences one may have in a lifetime that shapes them into the person they are today. Whether the experience is positive or negative, it’s one’s choice to embrace or forget the experience. Anything that takes hold of a person’s soul and teaches them to grow is a wonderful experience. Having traveled from place to place including China, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico, I’d say the journeys that I’ve traveled have had the biggest impact on my life, and made me who I am today.
I believe in keeping an open mind and always looking for ways to expand my horizon. I’ve found that I can always have a different mindset on things once I’ve stepped into another culture.
While I was on a mission trip in China a few summers ago, a simple sign sent my head in a twirling whirl. In America, we’ve become accustomed to rules, and blunt rules at that. Walking along a grassy patch somewhere in Lou Yang, China, I came across a sign simply saying, “The grass is smiling, please do not step.” This made me thinking that in a similar situation back home I would have more likely run into a sign saying, “ GET OFF GRASS. TRESSPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.”
That right there deserved a good laugh, and that’s what it got. It taught me that things really don’t need to be taken too seriously, and to throw some fun into everyday life. It took me going out of my comfort zone and walking in somebody else’s shoes for a change to say, “What the heck, that star just winked at me.” And laugh.