SMILE - The forgotten language of the human heart

 

SMILE 

The forgotten language of the human heart

I read an article, which talked about cultures that smile the most and can you guess in what place in India was?  It was 124^th on the list. Denmark was No.1. What does this imply? 

 

• Dothis mean that Indians are a set of serious people?  
• Does it mean that we have a poor sense of humour?
• Does it mean, we are so busy that we do not find the time to smile?

 Ofcourse, not.

What then is stopping us from smiling? I think it is because we attach too much of ego to our conscious living. We smile only at a selected list of people, who we think or near and dear to us. We never get to smile at the waiter at the restaurant, but we are fast to complain that the waiter is not courteous. We do not smile at a co-passenger on a bus or train, with whom we travel a long distance. We are sometimes comfortable travelling a few hundred miles without even speaking a single word and we say people are not friendly. Remember, the good old nature’s law applies in this well, “What you sow, so will you reap”. Share a smile and see how many smile responses you get. Start from today. 

 

Be happy to know, that smiling is a learnt behaviour. One of my friends in the training fraternity shared with me, how he changed from a serious looking person to a smiling person. He said that he was a very serious looking person, which made people to shun away from him. So, he took a conscious effort to have a smiling face. Everyday, when he looks into the mirror, he used to consciously take the effort to lift the two muscles on the side of his mouth, and smile. He used tell himself that he looks good this way and commits himself to keep smiling throughout the day. He would then carry his smiling face wherever he goes, right from riding his scooter smiling at everyone on the road or while talking to anyone at work or home. In due course of time, this got deeply ingrained in him and he became a smiling person. He found his level of social acceptance, significantly improved and he became a welcome guest everywhere. So, the simple secret is, “fake it till you make it”.  This gives us great scope, to think and start afresh on cultivating the habit of smiling.

 

Smile is the greatest gift bestowed upon human beings. Animals don’t smile. A smile is meant as a friendly acknowledgement of another member of the human race. So let us start smiling. Don’t wait for the other person to smile first. Be the first to smile. You have nothing to lose. You only have a lot to gain. Smile at the watchman, driver, tea stall vendor, receptionist, client, whoever you share physical space and time with. Most of our faces look better when we smile. Don’t be shy, show your teeth and speak the only language that connects the whole world.

 

 

 

D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com