Smile Power

Sometime after retirement, I began to cultivate a smile. Perhaps it was because of retirement itself. Or maybe now that I wasn’t working I finally had time for it. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t long before I began smiling at everybody.

I’ve read smiling can make you live longer and look younger. It’s a natural facelift. I’ve been practicing this new smile for a few years now. It took a while for it to become a habit because a frown comes pretty naturally. In fact, sometimes I look like I’m frowning even when I’m not inside.

When I bike ride or walk, I almost always smile broadly at folks coming the other way. I have noticed that about 95 out of 100 people smile back. Two or three percent do not return the smile. Another two or three percent appear to show something that may be fear. I get it.

My friend Brian and I love to ride on the bike trail that circles Lunken Airport. I recall a day recently we met there to ride. Neither Brian nor I felt particularly energetic. As we took our warmup lap, we both noticed that people seemed extra friendly that day. We were getting bigger smiles than we were giving. People were even conversing with us for the few seconds it took to pass each other. I looked at Brian and asked what was going on. Are they mistaking us for a pair of celebrities? I noticed I wasn’t tired anymore and was riding faster than usual. Brian picked up more speed too. Smiles definitely energize me.

Smiles are contagious. Back when fast food restaurants let you inside, I started making it a point to smile at the counter people. Sometimes their mood would go from a disinterested “What is your order?” to a smiling “You have a good day, Sir.” On one occasion the young counter girl looked like her world had ended. It took an extra dose of the smile treatment to lift her up. After I walked out the door, I peeked back through the window. She was still smiling.

Some research shows that smiling, whether genuine or not, enhances your mood. Recently I went with Bonnie to her 50th high school reunion. Attending reunions is not my favorite thing to do, but I painted on a smile when we walked in the door and I immediately started feeling better. The entire night went surprisingly well. People were friendly. They might have wondered, “Why is the spouse who doesn’t know anybody and really isn’t one of us smiling like the cat who ate the canary?” Whatever they were thinking, they were smiling back and making me feel welcome.

A few years ago, Bonnie and I had a big adventure hiking all the way around the state of Ohio on the Buckeye Trail, 1,440 miles worth. There were days when the smile came naturally. And then there were the days we needed a little help—like from smile masks at McDonald’s. I was even able to take a little frown break behind it. Just looking at the picture now is elevating my mood. You might feel yours is improving as well.

Maybe I’m making up for all the years I didn’t smile much. Life might have been so much easier if I had. Like back when I was a kid and took the shiny 50-cent piece out of the new concrete porch Dad had just poured. When he followed the money trail to me that evening, I could have let my big grin say, “Don’t you think it’s kind of funny, Dad, that your kid would do something that stupid, knowing I would get caught and get in big trouble?”

Or one of the times I got pulled over for speeding. I could’ve smiled, and maybe even tried some humor like, “Sorry Officer, my radar detector isn’t working today, ha ha.“

I’ve been honing my smile in case I ever get pulled over again. Maybe it’ll keep money from flying out of my wallet.

I have had times, though, where a smile caused money to enter my wallet. I ordered a cake last week from a local grocery store bakery. It was for a surprise birthday party for Bonnie. I won’t say which birthday, but it was a big one. She doesn’t look it though. (Me getting myself out of trouble.)

The day I went to pick the cake up, it was not ready. It was not even started. They were short-staffed, and one harried employee was decorating a late cake that another unhappy customer was waiting for. Fifteen minutes later the same lady handed me my hastily decorated cake. It didn’t look much like the picture I had drawn on the order and I could see that she was embarrassed. I smiled and thanked her as I left with it. Then I hurried to another bakery and found a last-minute replacement.

It was either that or throw a hissy fit.

Smiling was a better choice. I went in a couple days later when I wasn’t as upset and got my money back and an apology from the manager. And we got to keep the cake! That was another surprise.

I’m getting ready for a mission trip I’m taking to Tanzania. Africa. That’s correct. I’ve pretty much never gone anywhere, and lately I’ve settled into a kind of senior routine at home. (Some of you understand; the rest of you will someday.) I can see that this is going to be a big adventure and totally rock my world.

Our team has a packed schedule, doing probably a dozen things I’ve never done before. But now I know the power of a smile. This will be a good test. My goal is to serve the Lord and the people of Tanzania with a smile, and then when I arrive back at CVG and walk off the plane with extreme jet lag—and  maybe an unpleasant exotic lower tract condition—to still be smiling.

Even if it hurts.

Feature photo by B S K from FreeImages