September 1, 2007
Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
If you start to pay attention to magic, you will notice that it is all around you! What you give your attention to expands, so I’ve started to pay attention to the magic in my life. For this article I would like to focus on the powerful magic of a smile. Smiling is good for you, it’s good for others, it’s free, it’s easy, and it doesn’t take up time (you can do it while doing other things). When you smile there are chemicals released into your body that cause you to feel good! Also, you never know the effect it may have on someone else!
Several years ago I had a short lay over at an airport. I was quickly walking from one gate to another, feeling light and in a cheerful, good mood…extending warm smiles to those people walking by that I would catch eyes with. Sometimes I would get a smile in return and sometimes not, the latter is a response that I have learned not to take personally. Just as I was in line to board my plane a man ran up to me and said, “I only have a moment, I have to catch a plane, but I wanted to give this to you.” With those words and a smile he left me standing there with a card and a stuffed animal. In the card he wrote a kind note thanking me for smiling at him. He said that it “really lifted his spirits and warmed his heart”. He mentioned how crazy the world can get sometimes and how easy it is to get caught up in the madness of the “rat race”. He said that my “gesture of a smile was what we needed more of in the world”. Tears of gratitude came to my eyes after reading his words. What a gift I had received! That short moment shared between souls, lifted his spirit and he was brave enough to let me know. So many times we don’t feel comfortable reaching out to strangers to thank them for such a thing, we may think it, but don’t actually say anything. This experience was such a great reminder to me of how powerful a smile is. Since then I have had similar experiences. A few years ago at a concert, while sitting in the front row, I had an amazing experience with the lead singer. We would catch each others eye from time to time and I would extend a warm smile of gratitude. Since we were having these moments I decided to add the intention of sending white light for fun, to see what would happen. In addition to our connection, my friends and I were having such a great time enjoying the music, truly living in the moment! At the end of the concert each of the band members came out to thank the audience, the singer and I caught each others eyes one last time and with that he mouthed the words “thank you” and nodded with a smile. I acknowledged him by smiling and nodding. It was so neat! A true “namaste” moment. Here is a beautiful description of “namaste” from Ram Dass :
I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace. I honor the place in you where, if you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
You don’t even have to be in front of someone to witness the power of a smile! While training for a job in customer service many, many years ago I learned to smile before answering the phone. The person on the other line can feel the energy of it! Try it for yourself when talking with people on the phone or when you are leaving your out-going voice mail message (listen to how different you sound without smiling before you speak than when you do smile).
Action for September: I encourage you and challenge you (and myself) to smile this month when you don’t feel like it. Maybe you’re grumpy or in a “funk”, just try smiling and see what happens. I mean really smile! I heard that Paramhansa Yogananda suggested that if you don’t feel like smiling, to try this: look at yourself in the mirror and use your fingers to literally lift your cheeks up (or as my mother tells her students, “lift your apples”)
Now I’m not suggesting that you always force a smile if you truly feeling like crying. If you’re sad or upset and naturally feel like crying, by all means cry. We all know how comforting a good cry can be. Similar to smiling, when we cry the tears release chemicals and hormones that help to calm and comfort us. Another magic trick! We are amazing creatures. We are truly blessed.
Big Smile From Me To You! :)
The world always looks brighter from behind a smile. ~Author Unknown
A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks. ~Charles Gordy
Find out how to help children with cleft lips smile at www.smiletrain.org
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