I love people. And I love to have fun!

I smile a lot. Mainly because I like people and like to have fun. I totally didn’t plan it (I go through life clueless about my actions most of the time), but lately I’ve had a number of people comment to me that they really like my smile.

I’ve never really thought about smiles much, but here are two things I’ve learned recently:

Smiling makes people feel good
Most of the people who have commented about my smile are those who are probably frequently overlooked. It’s amazing that even if you don’t talk to the person, at least giving them an authentic smile goes a long way. One lady that I’ve never talked to (just haven’t had the chance to talk yet) told me she likes how I’m always smiling and how it makes her feel. I love that I made her feel good without even really trying! And I’ve had many other stories just like this.

Smiling makes people feel accepted
I did a little experiment on the plane yesterday. While people were finding seats on the plane, I made a point to try to get eye contact with someone, smile and see if they chose to sit by me. It worked each time! It was like they said to themselves “I’m looking for a seat on a full plane. Hey, this person looks nice. I’ll sit by them!” I’m pretty darn sure those same people would have walked on by otherwise.

Also, at security yesterday, I just briefly smiled at one of the security guards. I didn’t think much about since I was just being polite, but the guy said “With a smile like that, you have got to be really happy!” It made me realize how airport security people probably don’t see many smiles if it was shocking enough to comment on my measly little smile.

It’s amazing how much power a smile (or not a smile) has!