I entered the lift, inside was only one middle-aged, divorced, a single mother of two, who we worked with, she looked at me straight in the eye and asked ‘Why do I always see you smiling?’
Her question came as a surprise. Thoughts started darting in my small head. What is she up to?, Is it really my smile that is bothering her or it is something else more than that?, does she know I am married?, does she wish that I put long face? Is she fancying me?…..
I calmed myself and gained my composure, I responded with a calm friendly voice, I don’t know. Deep inside me I knew I lied.
The true answer is that nowadays, I put on my third smile. In my life time I have had only three smiles.
The first smile was that genuine, natural, innocent, lovely one that lighted up the room. This smile could light up even the darkest room. It made even the dullest person reciprocate with a similar smile. It was original, not some fake smile you get on the streets. I smiled with a wide gap in the front upper jaw after losing the milk teeth.- without being conscious of it. It looked fine for me- even fashionable. This smile was not fabricated, I was never conscious of who is watching. It was such a pure joy to smile-it made everybody in the vicinity happy. That was my smile as a kid.
As the time went by and I grew older, I developed what I will call second smile. This was smile attached to things. It is a smile that I put on after buying a new designer cloth. It is the smile that I had when I bought the most recent gadget. It is the smile I put on when I was told I am the best, I look gorgeous. This smile was not natural. It was fake, fabricated and sometimes even forced. It never made me have a pure joy. This smile never lit a room. It was dull. Nobody ever joined me in smiling, instead they laughed with me. This smile had to be watered by things that can be bought by money. It had to be massaged by good comments. It was dampened when nobody recognised me after spending a lot to buy a new Hilfiger jeans, I felt let down when my friends never noticed my new hair style, I felt hurt when nobody acknowledged my witty jokes.
If you never looked good, rich, smooth faced, I never smiled back. If you body figure was not good looking I frowned instead of smiling. This smile made me like a machine-phony. To keep this smile coming, I had to go to the extremes. Disappointingly, it never lasted. So I had to look for a lasting smile. This is my third smile, that I am putting on when I am writing this. The one that melted the woman in the lift.
This third smile came after a serious soul searching. This was prompted by a long spell of depression. This smile is natural. It is pure, it is magical. It appreciates everybody. It is never watered by earthly possessions. It is watered by daily meditation, daily gratitude, daily appreciation of life, daily approval of my efforts, successes and failures. It gives me pure joy to have this smile. This smile does not look at your outward look. It appreciates you the way you are.
Which of the three smiles do you put on?.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
HEY ILIKE THE THIRD TYPE OF SMILE.NICE ONE RIGHT THERE
Spot on!