Why I decided to SMILE
April of 2020, I receive a call from my brother Johnny; it’s 11 pm. I’m almost asleep. I think it’s awkward that my brother is calling me at 11 pm, mainly because it’s midnight in Argentina ( where they live ). Something isn’t right.
“Michael, Daddy has been hospitalized. He has a cold and fever.” The world is in this stage where the pandemic is hitting hard and everywhere. My brothers and sister go to the hospital, chasing the ambulance. Finally, they arrive, they are concerned. A security guard approaches them to let them know that they cannot go in to be with him. They request to the nurses if they could hold on for a minute so I could see him.
They face time me and tell me that I should say goodbye to Daddy. That was my last communication with him. Three days later, he passed away.
I could not travel and could not help my brothers and sister during those three long days. It wasn’t easy. I participated in his funeral by face time. But today is not about my relationship with my father nor with my siblings. It’s about SMILING.
Months later. My mother travels to visit my family and me. We are having a great time together. Her husband was hospitalized but was doing well. She was enjoying her time with my four daughters. You could see her smile, everything was fine, until my sister Jackie called me.
Sunday early morning, my mother was getting ready to go out with my wife. Mommy was getting prepared, wrapping up her makeup. She was happy.
I answer Jackie’s call. She says to me in a very blunt way that my step-father has only a few hours. Cachorro passed away while my mother was visiting us. She could not say goodbye to the love of her life.
So, when did I learn to smile? During the funeral preparation of my step-father ( Cachorro ), my siblings and I were going through many pictures of my mother and cachorro. In every picture, he was smiling. In absolutely every single image, he had a genuine smile. It struck me. This man, Cachorro, had lived his entire life smiling. From his young years to his last days. Then I went back to look at my pictures ( I am 47 ); I could not find one photo with a smile, not one.
That day, everything changed. I decided to practice my smile, and I decided to teach my face muscles to smile. It seems dumb or easy. It’s neither. I chose to smile every day, exactly when I jumped out of bed. I forced a smile. I would stand in front of the mirror and smile ( yes, I felt dumb and awkward ). If you think it’s easy, try it. Something started to change. I greeted my daughters every morning with a good morning smile, and this had an immediate positive effect on them — the same with my wife. Before, I would begin my day in automatic mode with no smile.
So, I began to practice my smile; I smiled at every interaction with any human being. I also began to smile at Liam ( our beautiful dog ). It also had an immediate positive impact on Liam. But most importantly, it had a tremendous positive impact on me.
Since that day, I have smiled every day. Even though I have many challenges, I wake up with a smile, and I look at people and smile. When I am in a business meeting, negotiations, etc., I get up, shake hands, and smile when it all ends. Even if the outcome is not favorable for me, I can see the positive effect on everyone I interact. I see how situations are diffused, how it has a soothing effect and even makes Monday’s a little bit better. Smiling has a similar contagious effect as yawning. You smile, and other people smile. I do not take smiling for granted, I practice it, and it’s incredible how it has become easier to do it. As a result, I see things more positively, and I believe that by smiling more, better things will happen not only to me but to the people that surround me. Thanks to smiling, I have become a better person, and I believe that the people surrounding me see it. For the last year and a half, I have had a friendly smile in every picture. They are so much nicer to see.
I believe in the power of smiling.
Try it out.
Thank you, Cachorro and Fede, for teaching me without knowing that you were doing it.
