Smiles

I've been feeling rather blah lately. Just the usual stuff associated with having to deal with autoimmune diseases and realizing your life isn't exactly where you thought it would be. It's amazing how your whole life can just turn on a dime ... but that's for another topic on another day. Today it's about smiles.

Yesterday I used one of the fabulous Christmas presents my daughter gave me ... a European facial at the local Hair Academy. Everybody who works on you there is a student; they would be considered the "seniors" of the academy. Every time we've gone there (for haircuts, massages, facials, etc.), we've been very happy and pleased with the end results. The very sweet lady who worked on me for the facial told me I was her very first client!!! I'm happy to report she did an absolutely excellent job. She knew about my pain, and she was extremely gentle yet firm in the massage when she needed to be. My face felt so refreshed!!!

As I was laying there, I started thinking about how people's faces really are most beautiful when they smile. It doesn't have to be a huge showing teeth smile. It can just be a little one. And when the eyes match the smile, not only a person's face but their whole being seems to be transformed.

There's so much ugliness and meanness in the world. We definitely need more smiles. Warm, caring, sweet smiles that say "hey, I may not totally agree with what you're saying or doing, but I respect you and care about you as a unique individual".

Fake smiles have no place in any part of society, and they should be banned. If you offer a fake smile, you will immediately be dragged away in chains and placed in the stockades in the middle of the square! Oops ... got a little carried away there. No torture or punishment for fake smiles; just a reminder that karma -- or what my mother always liked to say "what goes around comes around" -- will come back act you.

Yup, smiling ... REAL genuine and honest smiling ... can brighten someone's day in ways you may never know or understand. And don't we all want to have some brightness and light in our lives? :)