204.6 Smiling From My Heart

Today I was back at PVCC with my ESL group! As I was getting ready to leave, I had a thought provoking conversation with one of the staff members there. She said that I had changed so much over the last year. She said that she noticed the difference when I came back this September. Since this was all about me :), I asked her what she meant by different. Here's what she said...she said that I was much more energetic, and that the weight loss was really evident. Then she said that I used to smile in the past, but recently when I smiled, it was a much more genuine smile, that it came from my heart. That really struck me and I explained that until this year, I was always in pain when I was there, either from walking from the parking lot to the classroom, or from teaching for two hours, which involved a lot of standing, and then seeing her as I was leaving. It is strange and wonderful for me to think that I have changed from being someone who was having a lot of pain a lot of the time, to someone who rarely thinks about how that was, and who is so filled with energy and enthusiasm now. Viva la difference!