Show Me Your Teeth

Anytime we were taking family pictures, I remember my mother saying, "Show me your teeth!  I didn't pay over $4K for braces for you to hide them!"  I was reminded of this when Lady Gaga came out with a song with that title, which, consequently, was used to advertise Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.

I want to talk about the power of a smile.  The quickest example I can think of is checking out at a grocery store.  How many times have you walked up to the register and the cashier says hello and smiles?  How about if they say hello but aren't smiling?  That makes a totally different statement, doesn't it?  Of course, they're trained to greet the customers as part of their job.  But most training doesn't include discussion about body language.  After all, that's what a smile is - a form of body language.

There are all different kinds of smiles.  The Mona Lisa version where the person might be thinking about some inside joke or secret; the wide-toothed grin of a child who just jumped into a pool for the first time; the loving smile of a groom as he awaits his bride at the end of the aisle. 

Have you thought about what your smile conveys to the world?  No excuses now; I don't care how crooked or yellow your teeth are or how many are missing!  A smile shows your interest and your openness to conversation.  A smile can take an angry client down a notch; it can brighten someone's day.  Other people can tell when your smile hasn't reached your eyes, so if you're going to smile, you need to put some meaning behind it.  Try smiling at yourself into your mirror when you're getting ready to go out.  Sure, you might burst out laughing at how funny it might be to do this, but it's a little like role-playing.  You're practicing your smile so that you know when it's reaching your eyes. 

I got a quote in a Dove chocolate a few weeks ago that I kept posted on my bulletin board:  "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."  Your smile is part of your sunshine.  It should be dispersed to others!

Isn't there something in your life that you can smile about each day?