Thoughts over an old mans advice

Once when i was little,
and i was feeling very scared,
an old man kindly told me,
"smile and the world will smile with you"
at that time,
in that place,
this didn't seem to fit

i tried so hard to listen,
to that strange old man,
that i had never met before,
and to his advice,
even though,
it wasn't right for that moment,
maybe later,
maybe another day.

It was hard to smile,
i was five years old,
and about to have an operation,
the big people all around,
to take me to my doom,
thats how it felt to me,
how could i smile,
at a time like this.

But for some reason,
his advice always stayed,
though he is now long gone,
this advice,
from the strange old man,
it always stayed in my mind.

but i find it hard to smile,
now when i think it over,
this advice is unrealistic,
life isn't easy,
nothing is simple,
not any more.

So i always remembered,
but i never actually did,
the old mans advice,
because it never seemed to fit

but then one day,
not so long ago,
i heard another saying,
that goes hand in hand,
with the advice,
the old man once told me

it was my Nan that told me,
after her precious little boy and i had had a fight,
"cry and you cry alone",
this part was true,
i thought at the time.

i never sit with a friend,
so we can cry,
over our problems,
over our lives,
never together,
always alone.

But then again,
somewhere,
out there in the world,
some one else must be crying,
not by my side,
but far away.

the little old man,
may he rest in peace,
gave me an important memory,
from my childhood,
though he will never know it.

he also made me realize something,
even though i didn't notice till years later,
it took some time,
and a great deal of thinking,
to come to my conclusion.

that when you smile,
you can brighten someones day,
just to make them realize,
that some day they will be OK,
they will get the hang on life,
eventually,
and it wont effect them so.

and one day,
they can brighten another's day,
once they learn to smile themselves,
just as years ago,
a strange man,
changed my day.

Also, that it is OK to cry,
not everyday deserves a smile,
because nothing is easy,
nothing is simple,
life can be hard.

but we are never truly alone,
because somewhere,
out there in the world,
some one else is crying with you,
they too feel alone,
but no one is,
because someone else feels the same.