Life can sucker punch you at times. While you’re bent over trying not to regurgitate your breakfast, you’re not smiling. Smile? When I just got slugged?
Give me something to smile about, and then I’ll smile.
Judging by the frowns on people’s faces and the creases created by them on foreheads, I think there isn’t enough to smile about for most people.
And since I’m the gal who actually built her upper body strength in boot camp by smiling…I thought I’d help you out.
What? You don’t see how smiling builds muscles in the arms, shoulders and back?
Well, if you’re at Boot Camp and you smile, one of two things will happen:
- You’ll get bugs in your teeth
- The Drill Seargent will punish you
Exact conversation from the summer of 1984 (and no, I’m not too old to remember back that far):
DI: Do you think this is summer camp, private?
Me: (eyes darting from side to side) Uh…NO, DRILL SERGEANT.
DI: The why are you smiling? (This is a rhetorical question so I stare straight ahead and wait for the rant.) Do you think this is fun?
Me: NO, DRILL SERGEANT.
DI: I think you’re having too much fun, private. Drop and give me 20.
Me: (Assumes the pushup position) One, Drill Sergeant.
DI: I can’t hear you private! Louder. (Yes, they really do say that while you’re counting out your repetitions.)
Anyway, maybe that story gave you something to smile about. And for the record, it didn’t keep me from smiling. I didn’t smile all the time (like when I was being tear gassed or after I’d hiked 20 miles carrying my 100 pounds of gear).
Why not smile? Think about how your face automatically wants to respond when you see a smile.
And afterward, you feel a little better. It’s like relaxing those facial muscles cues something inside your chest.
So, I thought I’d share a few things that made me smile recently.
My cat skidding across the wooden floors in pursuit of a well-used crochet item.
Seeing this sign when I drove into the Fred Meyer Parking Lot
A three-word text from my husband. No, it wasn’t “Is dinner ready?” I’m sure you can figure it out if you think hard enough.
My book cover shared on the page of an authentic fan (a person I have never met who reached out to me after reading one of my books)
Cute kitten pictures on Facebook (or Instagram or Pinterest)
A funny line in a book
Finishing my to-do list for the day
Now, I could continue to list some things. I smile an awful lot, and sometimes at the craziest things. (How many people do you know who grin maniacally in the Fred Meyer parking lot because they see a sign?)
Instead, I’m asking for your stories.
What makes you smile? What was the LAST thing that made you smile? Feel free to share memes or screen shots in the comments. Let’s give each other a reason to smile today.
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