SMILE

Every time I ride the boat on my way to my part time job, a thought comes to mind and I'll tell myself, "I'll write about this tonight!". Then when I get back home, either I'll forget or I just can't make a sentence out of it. The next time I'll be heading to work, same thoughts playing all over again, "I will write about this tonight." So after almost a year, I'm still here trying to write it down.

Back in high school, there's this very popular girl in campus. Her name is Jackie, a year older than me and she's also from Tublay. Who would not love a girl who readily gives a smile? That's how I remember her. The girl with a big smile. I don't personally know her but until now, I could only think of everything warm, charm and everything positive when I picture her face. She was elected as one of our school officer (can't remember which position) and yes, I voted for her not because she's from Tublay but because of her smile.

Another man from Tublay Central who approached me during one of our Town Fiesta. I don't know his name but I know him by face. I always see him everytime I tag along with my Dad to their "flying school". He told me in Ibaloi, "You know what makes your Dad endearing, its his readily given smile. There's sincerity in it making you feel secured. 'Agshi-an tu pay e takday mo unno e takdang mo nu maki asel sun sikam' (He would even hold your hand or your shoulder when he'd talk to you). Arahh, singan kettan importanten tuo numan (Oh well, I feel like an important person when he does that)".

SMILE - EVERYONE IS WATCHING

To sound more educational, lets inject some facts (lol). So many articles, research and quotes I want to include. Take this piece from AMBASSADOR YOUTH for instance.

Notice the following facts about smiling:

• 72% of people think of those who smile frequently as being more confident and successful.

• 86% of people say that they are more likely to strike up conversations with strangers if they are smiling.

• Bosses are 12% more likely to promote people who smile a lot.

• Research shows that 65% of communication is non-verbal (many claim an even higher percentage).

• Non-verbal communication comprises facial expressions, eye movement, gestures, posture, and all other bodily signs-primarily facial expressions.
• The effects of a smile are so powerful that even a smile on the telephone produces positive results.

• When someone comes into a room, people are automatically drawn to their face, and a smile provides a warm greeting.

• Studies show that happiness is a by-product of smiling, not the other way around as most people assume.

• Research shows that when two people in conversation use the same kind of body movements and gestures (such as smiling), they will experience greater empathy for each other, which they may not even consciously notice.

MY GAY FOUND FRIEND

My cousin Susan once said when every one's mistaken on who is who between me and my sister Noeda, "That's easy, Lovelyn smiles a lot!". I know my cousin was just being polite not to say I'm the crazy one hahaha... literally, that is.

Remembering this gay manning one of the cashiers in the Supermarket where we buy most of our meat. My sister dislikes him and avoids his line. The impression stayed when he once didn't cater to my sister's need because it was still early and he didn't have loose change. By the looks, you'll dread him with his crooked eyebrows and he seem like angry all the time. Sometimes it makes me think, was it because we buy all these meat and he might be a vegetarian?

Only during holy hours when I can go shop for our groceries. Just after I get out of work and its "him" on the counter during this time of the day. I had no choice. "Okay, he could give me that long face anytime, its his problem not mine", I told myself. My turn to pay and I greeted him 'Boun giorno'(good day) and asked him for a plastic bag. I gave him my wide smile. He looked at me puzzled and I saw an attempt to reciprocate. I call it a "one-forth" smile, he just did then went back again to his mean face.

The next time, I did the same with a wider smile and he said, 'Boun giorno' too with a "half smile" held a little longer that looks more like a twitch(hehehehe). Now, I conquered his widest smile and even though I'm still far from the line, we would smile at each other while he frowns more to those who frowns him back. He now asks me, " Come va?"(how are you) while he does his job with all the meat I bought(lol). I have just proven what Professor Dale Jorgenson of Harvard University said, "Smiling is a case in which a simple act can have profound affects on the kinds of experiences we have with other people and how they treat us.”

More interesting read ups here: Fake it Till you Make It: Can Smiling Improve Mental State and The Benefit of Laughter - How Laughter Can Reduce Stress and ... - Research has shown health benefits of laughter ranging from strengthening the immune system to reducing food cravings to increasing one's threshold for pain. There's even an emerging therapeutic field known as humor therapy to help people heal more quickly, among other things. Humor also has several important stress relieving benefits.

QUOTED SMILES

Lastly, I'll leave you with these quotes from THE QUOTE GARDEN . Every quote is beautiful so I decided to post it all. Does it show why it took me a year to write this down.... and all I want to say is - "Oh, just SMILE!"?

Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

A smile confuses an approaching frown. ~Author Unknown

People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile. ~Lee Mildon

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. ~Phyllis DillerSmile.

Have you ever noticed how easily puppies make human friends? Yet all they do is wag their tails and fall over. ~Walter Anderson, The Confidence Course, 1997

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile. ~Author Unknown

Start every day with a smile and get it over with. ~W.C. Fields

Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available. ~Jim Beggs

A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks. ~Charles Gordy

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain, Following the Equator

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. ~William Shakespeare, Othello

A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. ~Author Unknown

If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it. ~Andy Rooney

If you smile at someone, they might smile back. ~Author Unknown

Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it. ~Author Unknown

Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile. ~Author Unknown

Everyone smiles in the same language. ~Author Unknown

If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine. ~Author Unknown

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. ~Author Unknown

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. ~George Eliot

She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket. ~Raymond Chandler

Smiling is infectious,You can catch it like the flu.Someone smiled at me today,And I started smiling too.~Author Unknown

A smile appeared upon her face as if she'd taken it directly from her handbag and pinned it there. ~Loma Chandler

A laugh is a smile that bursts. ~Mary H. Waldrip

Smile - sunshine is good for your teeth. ~Author Unknown

The shortest distance between two people is a smile. ~Author Unknown

If you don't start out the day with a smile, it's not too late to start practicing for tomorrow. ~Author Unknown

Smiling is my favorite exercise. ~Author Unknown

Wear a smile - one size fits all. ~Author Unknown

No matter how grouchy you're feeling,You'll find the smile more or less healing.It grows in a wreath

All around the front teeth -Thus preserving the face from congealing.~Anthony Euwer

Every day you spend without a smile, is a lost day. ~Author Unknown

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa

A friendly look, a kindly smile, one good act, and life's worthwhile. ~Author Unknown

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles. ~Washington IrvingBeauty is power; a smile is its sword. ~Charles Reade

A smile is the universal welcome. ~Max Eastman

Keep smiling - it makes people wonder what you've been up to. ~Author Unknown

You're never fully dressed without a smile. ~Martin Charnin

A smile can brighten the darkest day. ~Author Unknown

It takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown. ~Author Unknown

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. ~Janet Lane

All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile. ~Chris Hart

If you would like to spoil the day for a grouch, give him a smile. ~Author Unknown

Smile - it increases your face value. ~Author Unknown

Peace begins with a smile. ~Mother Teresa

A smile is a powerful weapon; you can even break ice with it. ~Author

Unknown

Most smiles are started by another smile. ~Author Unknown

A smile is something you can't give away; it always comes back to you. ~Author Unknown

A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give. ~Author Unknown

It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring to the most important muscle of the body... the heart. ~Author Unknown