Where I Found Peace

I went to Metro New World this afternoon, walking slowly down Willis Street through a crowd of busy Kiwis and squint-eyed Asians hustling and bustling towards their destination. I was listening to my MP3 and had no care about the crowd. Suddenly a small girl (I think she's three) bumped into me. Her dad apologised and the little girl looked confused but she smiled. And I returned the smile to her and told her dad, "it's okay".

This reminds me about last Thursday when I was on my way to ALIN301 tutorial. I was climbing the staircase right opposite my house when I saw a big group of primary kids were going up the hill I was about to climb myself. Some were tirelessly running. Some were walking briskly. Some were huffing and puffing for oxygen. They all looked so cute. And there was this little golden-haired girl of five or six clad in a warm-red jacket, walking side by side with another black-haired girl of her age.

Suddenly the black-haired girl paced faster and dash forward. The golden-haired girl tried to catch up but she was tired and complained, "No, I can't." I was walking right next to her when I heard her complained. I bowed a little so that my head was close enough to hers and said, "Yes, you can!" She smiled back, shyly, before running with all her might to catch up to her friend. And she made it. And I continued walking to tutorial, with a wide smile etched on my lips for almost the whole day.

When I was doing my shopping, I was drowned deep in my own thought. Lately, I couldn't smile honestly. Many a smile had I faked, many a laugh had I made when I was around people. But I noticed one thing: Seeing children draws out a sense of inner peace that form an honest smile on my lips. A child's smile is contagious, at least to me. Perhaps those innocent and honest smiles from children can be a cure to this disease I have in my heart.