“Use your smile to change the world; don’t let the world change your smile.”
—Chinese Proverb
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A smile possesses a unique enchantment; it has the ability to completely change the course of your day, elevate your mood, and enhance the brightness of your surroundings. And regardless of whether you are experiencing a low moment or simply require a brief boost, a mere smile can significantly alter your emotional state and provide a renewed outlook on life.
But have you ever thought that a simple smile can save a person’s life? Read the story below which John W. Schlatter has written:
One day, Mark was walking home from school when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. The boy looked at Mark. Instead of passing him, Mark stopped and smiled at him.
Then, Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. He asked the boy where he was going. Mark found out that they were going the same way. So, he volunteered to help him carry part of the burden.
As they walked Mark discovered the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history. Mark also learned that Bill was having lots of trouble with his other subjects. More importantly, Bill had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in for a soft drink and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home. And that was the beginning.
The two continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from junior high school. They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years.
Finally, the long awaited senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk. Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. “Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?” Bill asked. Mark replied that he had no idea whatsoever.
“You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So, you see, Mark, when you smiled and picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life.”
“The rain may be falling hard outside,” wrote Alan Robert, “but your smile makes it all alright. I’m so glad that you’re my friend. I know our friendship will never end.” Robert also said, “Sometimes just a smile on our face can help to make this world a better place.”
“Smile and others will smile back,” claims Jean Baudrillard. “Smile to show how transparent, how candid you are. Smile if you have nothing to say. Most of all, do not hide the fact you have nothing to say nor your total indifference to others. Let this emptiness, this profound indifference shine out spontaneously in your smile.”
W.C. Fields suggests, “Start off every day with a simple smile and get it over with.”
Og Mandino, the author of The Greatest Salesman in the World, explains: “Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.”
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa also suggested: “Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other – it doesn’t matter who it is – and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.”
Smiles, according to David Hare, “are the language of love.” Everyone should smile because, to quote the words of Doug Horton “it’s free therapy.” William Shakespeare penned: “A smile cures the wounding of a frown.”
Science tells us that it takes only 26 muscles to smile but 62 muscles to frown.
“There are many kinds of smiles, each having a distinct character,” Johann Kaspar Lavater said. “Some announce goodness and sweetness, others betray sarcasm, bitterness and pride; some soften the countenance by their languishing tenderness, others brighten by their spiritual vivacity.”
J.D. Ratcliff shares this anecdote: “Once when I was about six years old, I was crying and miserable. What brought it on, I do not remember. My grandmother was sympathetic – and wise. ‘Go to the mirror,’ she said, ‘and smile with your face. Soon you will be smiling all over.’ Curiously enough, it worked – and was less stressful than pounding my head against a wall.”
From the Notebook of Solomon Huber, comes this valuable information: “A smile costs nothing but creates much. It enriches those who receive without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None are so rich they can get along without it and none are so poor but are richer for its benefits.
“It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is the rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad and nature’s best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anybody until it is given away. Nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give.”
