It doesn’t cost a bomb. And all it takes is a split second. Yet most of us are stingy about it. We would rather put up a stiff upper lip than trouble the corners of our mouth. There is no greater miser than one who can’t even smile—teeth and all.
A symbol of friendship and peace, it is difficult to fully comprehend the cascading effect of a smile. It can brighten a gloomy day, calm ruffled nerves, comfort grieving souls and patch up invisible wounds. You think changing the world is a tall order? Just flash a smile and see how easy it is. The power of a smile is too often underestimated. A kind word, a caring touch and a warm smile can do a world of good. And it has the potential to turn a life around.
Smile anyway. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. Dare to smile in the face of adversity—even when tears are blurring your vision. Smile and do random acts of kindness. This is the only way not to get lost in this chaotic world. Smiling at your brother’s face is an act of charity, say scholars. So are enjoining good and forbidding evil, giving directions to a lost traveller and removing obstacles from the path. Medically too, a smile packs immense benefits. It releases stress, relaxes facial muscles, lifts a bad mood and changes brain chemistry. Fake a smile if you can’t make it.
The other day I was with my dentist friend, Dr B Chandraakaanth. A poster at his clinic in Mahavir Hospital caught my attention. It says: “Most smiles are started by another smile. Let’s spread it”. How true it is. It has a chain reaction. You smile and the other person smiles back. You scowl and you get the same in return.
Some persons have a perpetual smile playing around their lips, no matter what the situation is. Patients come to Dr Chandraakaanth in extreme pain and the first thing he does is to grin from ear to ear. This has an anaesthetic effect. The pain does a vanishing act. There are some who are dour-faced at home but in office greet everyone with ‘good morning’. Charity begins at home.
So should good demeanour.
There is no carefree person in the world. Only some are better at hiding troubles. But it is also true that shared joy is double joy and shared sorrow is half sorrow. So why not smile our way through life?
In the New Year, let’s resolve to keep an animated face always. Let’s resolve to be the reason for someone’s smile. All it takes is a jiffy. And the waves of happiness it spreads might just change a life.
J S Ifthekhar
Email: jsifthekhar@gmail.com