That Contagious Smile…
This year I didn’t write down a list of “resolutions”. I’ve often found that my mind tends to file away whatever I’ve put on a list for “later”. Maybe because whatever it is on a list is saved there somewhere hence it will never be lost as an idea, does that make any sense? Maybe not, but I do realise now that if I want something done, I better start doing it right away or else it will stay as an entry on a list under a pile of a hundred other lists somewhere. And that is exactly why I’m writing this post up, because I made a resolution in December of last year and I’ve decided to go ahead with it right away. The Resolution? Smile for no reason at strangers.
The concept of smiling for people is not that hard to grasp, nor is it a newly introduced one. I am not really a smiling type of person, my natural features are usually arranged into a frown when I’m not trying to show any type of expressions or emotions. Frankly, I’ve never found a reason to smile for no reason at people, mainly because we are to busy trying to stare down the constantly staring people we are surrounded with and smiling back was simply dropped out of the equation. Then something happened, and I realised why a smile was important.
It was Christmas Eve 2014 and I was in London trying to shop for dinner supplies for two days in the Supermarket. You can imagine how crazy hectic and busy it was but I needn’t much anyway, just a couple of things I would get then run away. I was in an aisle blocked by shoppers, everyone pushing and running, talking in a hurry or checking something, and in the middle of the aisle was this really old lady slowly leaning on her cart, pushing away half a step at a time, keeping her calm even though people were rushing on either side of her.
The lady was well into her late 80’s, perhaps even 90’s, but she was dressed impeccably, her cotton-white hair in a smooth well-cut bob, jewels and a hint of makeup on her face. She also was shopping for dinner supplies apparently and I assume she was going to be spending the holidays alone for if she had anyone else they’d at least be doing their shopping with her, but I hope I am wrong. I adore old people, especially ones who still turn up well dressed and polite they way they did in their youth, and as I watched the lady she looked up at me and I smiled, a big wide beam from ear to ear, something I’ve never done at people before, a trait I must have picked up from the Australians when I visited back in May.
To my astonishment the lady smiled back, happily, genuinely! Not a sad miserable smile, or a lonely seeking companionship smile, just a really beautiful smile from a good heart that is rare to witness these days. She bobbed her head as she walked past in acknowledgement and the warm happy energy generated by a silly reason caused by lifting the facial muscles up was like a blanket of content wrapped around myself -and hopefully the old lady- on that freezing December day.
The story doesn’t end up here though. I made my way to the end of the aisle, still smiling like a loony to myself, dizzy by the happy smiling expression on the lady’s face, when I realised another face was looming in my range of vision. This time it was a harried-looking mother of two pushing her cart and trying to do her shopping and look after her kids in the crowd. Now this second lady, almost my age and apparently was having quite a stressful day so far, so my smile and deducted that I was smiling at her, or maybe because I was smiling too widely I was such a good sight, in any case, the expression of the lady changed almost instantly into a big wide smile herself and I almost stopped smiling to explain I wasn’t smiling at her. But then I thought to myself that no, I am going to smile at her even though I don’t know her, why not make her happy too? The lady continued on her way with a big smile on her face, and I do hope another shopper caught that radiating smile and passed it on to someone else.
I now understand.
Therefore, I began smiling at random people whenever I can. Not in a fake obnoxious kind of way that comes out as force and spells creepy. Whenever I can smile, especially in the morning, I will. Not at everybody obviously, smiling at strange men in the Arab world can sometimes be troublesome. But I now know that whenever someone is staring me up and down the better response is to smile at them, a big wide nice beam, instead of stare at them back and sending angry sparks in their direction. You’d be surprised at how people react, so far most of the ones I’ve smiled back at gave me back sheepish smiles and turned away their gazes immediately.
Now, dear reader who didn’t think my ramblings is so cheesy and made it this far, please smile, its contagious! It might not cure world’s deadliest deceases or ensure that no child shall ever sleep hungry again, but at least it might spread wide enough to give us more thankful happy people no matter what their circumstances are. A moment of stealthy happiness and relief in the vortex of a busy life. Why not?
P.S. About the picture above, I was caught unaware by my own iPhone mid-conversation and I like the impromptu picture of a happy moment so much I decided to keep it. Someone needs to develop a smart app where the smart phone takes its owners pictures whenever he is out enjoying some event or occasion or party, often those candid photos turn out to be the most honest and frankly the best.
