It All Starts With A Smile

It all starts with a simple smile. The sheer act of getting the corners of your mouth to turn upwards can make a huge difference in one’s day; and if you have a nice set of pearly whites then go ahead, show them off; even better, all the power to you.

So unbeknownst to me, I do that. Apparently, I am a smiler. It is not something I ever intentionally worked on, nor consciously tried to put forth into action. However, as of late, it has been brought to my attention that I am, in fact, just that - a smiler.

But now, it has become conscious; I catch myself doing it. And I don’t mean just the simple “hi, nice to meet you smile” of which any civilized person in society is capable - but I mean the type of smile that comes up surprisingly, usually when walking by myself, pondering a thought, chuckling to myself, and then boom – smile. What used to be a simple expression that I took for granted, now has me analyzing. Why did I smile in the first place? What is it that has invoked this ability of mine to show off this perfectly-crafted, post-major investment and orthodontic-work smile?

And so I pondered. Smiled, most probably, but then pondered some more. And then I came to a conclusion. This type of smile is one that is usually brought on by observation. This smile usually finds itself on my face when I go through my daily routine and observe my surroundings; apparently, most of which I find rather amusing. The thing is, I have realized that life and its daily routines can get rather monotonous, going through the same motions on a day-by-day basis with rarely any change.

And so, instead of grinding through the everyday and allowing myself to get carried away in tedious routine, I have found it easier to err on the side of optimism; bring out the humour, laugh a little, smile. Because in all earnestness, the stuff of the everyday is rather interesting, you just have to change your perspective a little. It’s not only where you are going, but where you are headed; the man on the street handing out newspapers is no longer just the ‘man on the street handing out newspapers’ but rather the man that lets you know if you're running late or not solely based on where he is standing at that particular moment handing out those papers.

All it takes is a shift in thought, a twist in perspective; and by all means, if you can smile through it all, then kudos to you.

So with that I say, “Hello my name is Emily, and I am a smiler.”