The power of your smile

If you look through old family photos of my family, I'm the kid in the picture with the cheesy smile.   If you look at recent photos of me, whether posed or taken in a crowd, I'm the middle aged woman with the cheesy smile.   I have smile lines and wrinkles to prove I've smiled a lot in my lifetime.

Unfortunately, there are pictures in the middle years without that trademark cheesy smile.   When my adult teeth came in, they were very crooked.   I became very embarrassed about my teeth, so was reluctant to smile broadly.  I would do that closed mouth smiley thing that looks so artificial and unhappy.

Somewhere around 19 or 20, a friend observed that when I was playing with my daughter, I would smile naturally and that I had a beautiful smile.   This friend observed that your smile isn't really about you, it is a gift you give to uplift others.

So, I started letting go of my embarrassment about my teeth, letting go of my self-centeredness, and started smiling more.

An amazing thing happened.   The more I smiled, the happier I got.  The more I smiled, the more people smiled back.  The more I smiled, the more pleasant interactions I had with strangers.

In my late twenties, I could finally afford to have my teeth straightened.  I no longer cringed when I looked at photos of my cheesy smile with my crooked teeth.  Now, even I could see the beauty of my smile.

What is the point of all this?  If we look inward, we can always see something to hold us back.  An insecurity, an inadequacy, a fear.   If we look outward, we can always see someone who needs us to reassure them, to bolster them up, to calm their fears.

Everyone needs to spend some time looking in, to make sure you are staying true to yourself.   But too much time looking in robs the world of your gifts.

An outward looking life is a happier life.  Give people the gift of your smile.  Give them the gift of your time.   Give them the gift of your attention.  Give them the gift of your caring.  Give them the gift of your compassion.

The generosity of spirit you show others will lift you up as well.   Your smile can be the light in someone else's darkness.  Your kindness the elixir they need to keep trying.

As I have said many times, you end up living in the world you create.   Make your world a generous, compassionate, caring and restorative place with the power of your smile.