The Truth - 29

 

The Truth - 29

 

*The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth*

 

As a growing up child, my Father taught me that "no matter what circumstances I find myself, I must learn how to smile through them"

I internalized that teaching amongst the so many others he taught me in his early morning conference with his children as he used to call those meetings.

And that teaching has helped me tide over so many challenges and situations that ordinarily would have sent many a man to the Psychiatrist.

It played out mostly when I was occupying the various positions I occupied in the body of Doctors especially during my tenure as the President of the Association of Resident Doctors of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

One of the big bosses of those days, who was not very comfortable with my activities as President (no boss ever is) decided to make my life miserable. He would call a meeting of Senior Doctors and invite me and in their midst he would lambaste me and accuse me of carrying out nefarious activities inimical to his Administration and always threatened to sack me but instead of me wearing a sad and moronic face, I would always have a smile on my face. Whenever he observed that he would go into a frenzy of calling me names and drawing attention of those in the meeting to the fact that I was not even remorseful of my actions instead I was smiling (remember a smile is different from a laugh) and the people would be aghast at seeing me smiling instead of shedding tears. I was later to learn from one of his trusted aides that he felt that my smiling while he was threatening me was both condescending and patronizing.

A smile in times of stress is not an indication that the external milieu is okay but it is an indication that the internal milieu is resting on a Strong Foundation.

So, in all these years, I have learnt the following lessons

When you are wronged and you smile calmly, it is a sign of generosity.

When someone has taken​ advantage of you and you smile, it is a sign of open-mindedness.

When you are helpless and you smile, it is a sign of calmness.

When you are looked down upon and you smile, it is a sign of confidence.

And finally, the ability to smile when you are misunderstood is rare - a sign of a good upbringing.

My Father brought me up well.

Now, that is  *the Truth, the WHOLE Truth and nothing but the Truth*

--------------------------------Jerry -the First

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