Smile is Not a Mile Away !

I posed for a passport sized photograph, and the photographer recommended for certain minor bodily adjustments. Having settled his subject with the correct posture using all his experience mastered in the art of clicking pictures, the photographer, before releasing his energy on the flash button, politely asked me to ‘smile’. Without a second thought, like a student sincerely obliging to the directions given by his master, I curved my lips a bit to let out a suppressed smile. It appeared a herculean task to get a photo clicked. The photos were handed over in a matter of minutes and the smiling picture appeared impressive. A picture is nothing but an impression of our true self. It reveals more than it hides. This made me ponder on the act of smiling.

If a smiling picture can draw attention, what about a smiling person? A child is attracted to a person who smiles. A security guard lets pass a person without much scrutiny who wears a smile. The shopkeeper attends a customer with much politeness if there is a smile. If an accident is averted, one smile can trigger another from the other end. An interviewer feels relaxed interviewing smiling candidates. Smile gets a lot of unnoticed credit and appreciation. The face looks beautiful with a smile. A stressful situation can feel lighter and greatly manageable with a smile.

 

An adage goes "Frown and you frown alone, smile and the whole world smiles with you”. Smiling and laughing are highly contagious. It spreads like wild fire. If one observes a group of people laughing, the heart yearns to be a part of that group, for the heart knows where it should belong.

 

There surely shall be times when we feel sad and depressed. There shall be times when we feel burdened with life’s challenges. There shall be times when we go through the grind of extreme pressure. But, in the midst of all this, if we realize that dawn shall invariably return after the dusk, we’ll be able to smile. Life was never meant to be easy. However, life was never always meant to be arduous as well. Happiness and tranquility can be discovered in the midst of grief and stress. Nothing is permanent. Tough situations shall make way for relaxed ones. Dark clouds shall make way for bright sunrays. Endure tough situations with a smile my dear friends, easier ones shall smile their way into your life.

 

So, if you are stranded on the middle of a highway with a flat tyre - smile. If your boss gets over demanding at work - smile. If your mother-in-law has unrealistic expectations from you - smile. If you have too many tasks and very limited time to complete them - smile. If you wish to reach office on time but the traffic eats out heavily on your time - smile. If your kid’s tantrums are making you go crazy - smile. If your neighbor’s wife always wears a frown - smile. If a baby in the adjacent compartment of a train incessantly cries and makes you lose your sleep - smile. If unexpected rains spoil your beer party – smile. If your wife demands a golden necklace – don’t smile, laugh :)). If your colleagues spend too much time on facebook – smile. If your mobile slips from your hand and faces fatality – smile. If your captain is furious on you for a dropped catch - smile. If a friend doesn’t keep his commitment as his wife doesn’t allow him to step out – smile. If an interviewer asks you a question and you don’t have an inkling of knowledge on that – smile. If your maid doesn’t turn up for work one day – smile. Last but not the least, if Sachin Tendulkar misses his century by a run – smile.

 

You gotta smile because a frown shall never change the situation. It continues to be just that. A smile doesn’t change the situation either, but it shall keep you healthy and calm, something that a frown conveniently misses by a mile.

Keep Smiling :) :)

-Sandeep Mahagaonkar