Smile.
Simple right? Two corners lifting UP.
Victor Borge said it quite smartly, “A smile is the shortest distance between two people.”
Have you ever practiced the art of smiling regularly?
Just today I made myself a sticky little note.
I wrote,
“keep calm, breathe, smile”.
a smile is the shortest distance between two people.
I had to make some calls to government agencies. (Need I say more?) Have you ever found yourself on hold, listening to a ring…exactly like a phone ringing… for 32 minutes then get disconnected? Yeah…fun stuff like that and more. Hello Monday morning!
I purposefully glanced over to my note to read it and check in with myself.
Was I calm? Yeah.
Was I breathing? Yeah.
But I wasn’t smiling. So I made myself do it.
You know, it actually made my head space improve immediately. I almost giggled at how stupid all these nonsense tasks are and how long they take for so little to get accomplished.
But that one, small grin, that deliberate smile, helped me let go of the angst of wasting an entire morning.
For many years I’ve made a point of practicing smiling. Even when I’m in a funk or uncertain, it makes me feel centered and my inner joy; even when I’m not feeling too confident about this whole thing called life.
Smiling is fun to practice like this morning when no one eles is around. It’s especially enjoyable when a stranger passes by and smiles back. That’s the best communication contact ever.
I’ve learned not to let it get under my skin or effect me when people scowl at me; though I do admit when I began practicing that totally ruined my day.
Will you try a simple smile experiment this week?
Post your personal experiment + experience in the comments below. I want to hear what you discover!
That’s all for now,
xo…
dr. rona thau
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