Of smiles and tears. Of happiness and sadness

The sweet bitterness of saying goodbye

The time that flies. When it wants.

Quality time. With friends. Who become something else. Whom you share your time with.

Time and friends. What else?

A trip.

Destination? It doesn’t matter.

Time and friends are all you need.

Any situation is good to uncover the sense of humour. To tell a quick and easy joke. Even if it’s bad. If they don’t laugh, they eventually will.

The trip begins. With punch and eagerness. And they remain for as long as the journey lasts - that should be months, but that’s a story for another time.

It develops with unique moments, unrepeatable and priceless. That will forge in your memory and no one will be able to snatch away from you.

The boring and transient moments will be ephemeral. You won’t remember them. But they are necessary.

Why?

Because, due to the contrast effect, they will enhance the opposite. The good ones.

And, what else is needed? What is the key for everything to work?

Being genuine. That everyone is. That all of us are. Don’t try to please anyone by pretending to be something you are not. At first, it will work but, in the long term, it’s another story.

Masks will fade away and they will see the real you. Be genuine. Honest. Be yourself. Nobody else.

But, let’s go back to the title of the post.

Why do we say “tears of joy“ and never “smiles of sadness“?

There is no need to explain the first one. So, we are going to focus on the second: smiles of sadness.

What is the scenario?

I let you choose among these three: the last night of the trip; the morning when you wake up before flying back; or the farewell at the airport.

In any of the situations you choose, the ** laughter** and smiles have now other nuances that didn’t have during the rest of the trip. And there, they are the traces or symptoms that something is not ok. You know the trip is over and you feel it in your friends.

There you have the smiles of sadness.

Everyone knows. But you don’t like farewells and you try to hide it. Maybe you are ashamed. Maybe you try to keep up the mood of the group. Because ones pull the others. That is the team’s spirit. Group’s spirit. Friendship’s spirit.

It is the “meltdown moment”. The moment of post-vacation depression.

Blessed that depression with the best surname possible. Because without a vacation, there is no post-. So, let’s understand it as something good from now on. Because looking back will put a smile on your face.

This time without that additive. This time without sadness but with nostalgia. That nostalgia of wanting to go back and repeat each and every moment of the trip. Of wanting to cross your path with every person you met.

Those that taught you something. The ones that blew your mind away. The ones that made the time fly. That made phones unnecessary. That inspired you. That went far beyond and broke the status quo.

The brave.

All of that is part of you. That fulfils your soul. And makes you think about what will be next. Which will be whatever you decide it to be.

Because you are the master of your own destiny.

And beyond that, only you can reach. With your readiness of how far you want to arrive.

Staring at the pen with a smile. The very same pen I wrote the draft of this post with. On my way back home - whatever back home means.

The pen reminds where I am heading to.

And maybe is “the meltdown moment”.

Or something else.

But the desire of keeping travelling is always there. Of keeping your inspiration.

Wanting to keep seeing smiles of sadness.

Always.