REFLECTION

July 18 - A Smile.....A Moment of Joy

We have all had the experience of being in a room where there is a picture of a baby yawning.  Before long we catch ourselves yawning for seemingly no reason at all and may spot others trying to cover their yawns – yawns are contagious!  It is intriguing and at times even humorous to see how easily our body can be influenced by people, places and things.  We live for a few years in a new area of the country or in another English-speaking part of the world and without being conscious of what is happening we begin to pick up a different accent or nuanced way of speaking.  We don’t notice that it is happening and only become aware of the change when family or friends kid us about our “new way of talking”.
 
Smiles too can be contagious.  A smile is a personal gift that we can easily give to others.  A smile when it is authentic - not the plastic, forced, duty variety - radiates something warm and positive about ourselves while communicating a glimpse of the best within us – without even a word being spoken.  How easily our smile draws forth from others a spontaneous smile in return.  Smile to smile and something changes within us: a simple facial gesture that communicates and puts us in touch with our deeper peaceful and affective self.  In every situation in which we find ourselves opportunities abound for this simple, natural way of communicating. We express our own wholesome and joyful approach to life while calling forth the best from another.  Smiles can transform.
 
 Mark Twain appreciated how beautiful and important smiles are: “Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.”  Would that all the wrinkles that become part of our countenance as the years pass were the result of smiles and not the tensions, sorrows and pain that so often accompany daily life.  We might like to check how spontaneously smiles are part of our life.  Do we smile and speak to people when we take a walk?  Do we give the checkout lady at the market a smile and greeting that boosts her spirit?  Is smiling our normal way of presenting ourselves to others?  Smiles have a way of changing how we relate with others, but they also have a way of changing how we feel about ourselves and how we are present in this moment at this particular time and place.  To smile is a choice that we can make – our smile touches other people’s lives but in a special way it reaches deep inside and changes us!