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Il-Covid-19 għadha magħna, b’mewġa wara oħra, u nnotajt, li għalkemm m’aħniex f’lockdown, l-uċuħ ta’ bosta nies ma jidhru kuntenti xejn. Smajt li bħalissa żdiedu l-każijiet ta’ saħħa mentali u dan kompla jwassalni biex naħseb dwar kif din is-sitwazzjoni li qed ngħixu qed taffettwana, għax ikolli nammetti li anki jien irrid nissielet miegħi nnifsi biex ma nħallix ċertu tħassib jaħkimni.
Għalhekk iddeċidejt li noqgħod aktar attenta li nagħti tbissima lil min ikun għaddej bit-tama li nqanqal lilu ukoll jagħmel l-istess biex iħossu aħjar.
Għaddew xi ġimgħatejn; ir-raġel u jiena konna ħerġin mill-Knisja, meta mara li hi ministru tat-tqarbin waqqfet tkellimna. Ma tantx nafuha, imma kienet ħerqana li taqsam magħna kif tgħaddi l-ġurnata f’dan iż-żmien partikulari. It-tnejn qgħadna nisimgħuha u rringrazzjajnieha ta’ dak li qasmet magħna. Dehret kuntenta, u meta waslet biex titlaqna, dehret lejja u qaltli: ‘Keep on smiling!’ ( Ibqa’ tbissem!)
Irrealizzajt li t-tbissima tiegħi ma kenitx qed tkun għalxejn u ddeċidejt li naqsam din l-esperjenza tiegħi ma’ oħrajn li bħali jgħixu għal dinja magħquda. Għoġbithom l-idea, u nittama li issa ser ikollna aktar nies jitbissmu fit-toroq.
S.C.
[:en]As the months with Covid-19 continue with one wave after another, I noticed that some people on the streets were not looking happy in spite of the fact that we are not in lockdown like so many other places.
I wondered whether they were being affected by anxiety or depression especially as I have heard that there are many mental health issues at the moment and I admit that I am also having to struggle not to get carried away by such feelings.
I therefore decided that I would consciously try to smile more to passers-by and hopefully this will encourage them to smile back and feel better.
A couple of weeks passed and a lady who distributes communion in church stopped to talk to my husband and I as we were out walking. We hardly know her but she was keen to talk about how she is spending her day in these unusual times. We both listened and then thanked her for sharing. She seemed happy and then turned on me and said ‘Keep on smiling!’
I realised that my smiling had not gone unnoticed and decided to share my experience with others like me who live for a united world. They seemed to like the idea, so now we will hopefully have even more people smiling on the streets.
S.C.
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