What is a smile if it is not the ultimate expression of life?
Each and every day we are presented with a panoply of faces. Each face has a person behind it with their own personality, their own ideas and ideals, their own views and opinions. Each person also has their own story. There are a tremendous number of factors that have gone into who a person is when you finally meet and interact with them. Every interlocution you engage in will affect your day; it is the same for those with whom you have conversed.
Our personalities, our moods, our mannerisms are infectious. When we engage in a dialogue with someone, we naturally observe their emotions before, during, and after speaking. If someone looks upset, that will affect how we begin talking to them. If this person becomes upset while we are speaking with them, that will affect how or whether we continue. There are a great many possible implications that may or may not come from being upset after a conversation has ended….
I would venture to say, though, that most people do not try to make others upset and that upon finding an upset person, most people will do their best to rectify the situation… to make the other person smile. A smile is a symbol of good intentions. It is a symbol of happiness. It is a symbol of pleasure. It is a symbol of agreement, approval, understanding, encouragement, pride, love, lust, desire, thanks, sarcasm, playfulness, jocularity. It is a symbol of life. What is it we pursue most in life? Money? Success? Love? Understanding? Peace? What are all these things but extensions of happiness, and what is the ultimate symbol for life and happiness? A smile.
I frequently say "smiles and good cheer" to people I encounter in my day. I'm sure plenty of people think I'm annoying, but the funny thing is they usually listen. Even if they are only smiling because of the sometimes sarcastic nature of the phrase, they smile nonetheless. It is an amazing thing to change a mood. The power we have over each other is undeniably huge when you look at how easy it is to make a person go from content to ridiculously angry, or tearfully sad to hopeful and content. It isn't just a silly phrase I made up, though. It is a verbal cue that has brought about plenty of smiles and a healthy amount of good cheer.
In a world where so much importance is placed on the extreme emotions, where is the simple smile placed? It is far more common, but not for lack of value. In fact, the smile—and it's implications—is quite possibly more important than the majority of our other expressions—and concurrent emotions.
Smiles are the ultimate expression of life. They show that you care about what you are doing and the life you are living. What better way to make your own personal world a better place than to smile and make others' worlds better?
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Smiles and good cheer to all!
