WHAT A SMILE DOES
It was just
another day when I wake up; take a moment to gather myself, before my itinerary
for the day reveals itself to me. As a student, my agenda wasn’t exactly
exciting. It included the same old stuff repeated over and over again except
for days when good gist comes along, or a fight happens, or some school drama
that’s just thrilling enough to make you feel like there was more to life as a
student. There was no bounce in my composure that day, no excitement… no oomph.
As I walked down to school, lots of thoughts evaded my mind; things I had to
do, things I had given up on doing, things that I had done that went wrong and
things I needed to do to fix them. It was so obvious I was going to be on my
stoic/uninterested/unsmiling mood.
I was just
hoping my mood wouldn’t get any worse than it already was when I noticed a
mini-van slowly driving towards me in an effort to reduce the effect of the
bumps the rough road created. I looked into the car and saw a Lebanese man and
a woman who appeared to be his wife, and in the back seat; two little girls.
The older one was about five, had her hair tied in buns, and I could see the
braces on her teeth because she was waving and smiling. It took a moment before
I realised she was waving and smiling at me and instinctively I smiled and
waved back. Her reaction to my response was funny; she bounced repeatedly on
the car seat; laughing and gave another wave before they drove farther out of
sight. I realised in less than a minute that my mood had changed from
indifferent to happy all because of a tiny pretty girl’s smile. She might have
been clueless but she had just made one more person happy, which goes to say
that a smile is contagious.
A smile is a
depiction of happiness; everything about it screams joy. Generally a smile signifies acceptance
especially when it comes with a greeting. It is a basic and instinctive
reaction to pleasure, humour, beauty, fantasy, gifts, art and another smile. It
is so basic that even a baby before learning speech or signs knows how to smile
to pleasing sights. A smile might not be the answer to a problem but it sure
makes one look more beautiful. Some
study uncovered that a smile can trick ones brain into believing one is happy.
Even when you fake it, if you smile often enough, you end up rewiring your
brain to make positive patterns more often than it does negative ones. So do
not hesitate to smile even when it is faked; apparently it does no harm but
good to the receiver and the giver.
Another up-side is that people who smile a lot appear to be more
likeable, courteous and competent. Therefore, it is advisable to smile at
people you wish to do business with or even for; like your boss.
So what makes
you smile? Is it a happy child; like me, or a dog playing fetch, two people
bumping into each other, the sunset, a rainbow, a dance, a speech, a friend, a
drama, flowers or a hug? Whatever rows your boat, be sure to keep a mental
picture of it so that you can keep that smile up every day. A few popular
personalities gave their definitions and opinions about a smile; Phyllis Diller
says a smile is a curve that sets everything straight. Douglas Horton says it is
free therapy. Denise Waitley says “a smile is the light in your window that
tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside. You may wonder why
you have to care for the next person; why you have to make someone else happy,
but need I remind you what goes around truly come around and we can’t deny the
need to be happy. It is a basic necessity that people fail to mention after
food, clothing and shelter. Conclusively, Leo Buscaglia offers a general sight
of this when he say, “ too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear,
an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the
potential to turn a life around.
