Smile!

One of my past  posts talked about becoming what you receive.  In it I talked about how important the Eucharist is.  Basically, the more we receive it the more we become like Christ.  Today I’d like to focus on how we perceive ourselves. This idea came to me this morning as I thought about a smile campaign my prayer group and I started in our parish.  Let me explain.

As many of you may know, I am a big fan of Fr. Michael Gaitley and his books.   He provides great insight into the mysteries of our faith.  To make a long story short, my prayer group and I studied a series of his books and took part in the retreats he offers in them.  The last book in the series called on us to choose something to do as a group that would help make the world a better place. This same book included a poem about smiling.   We decided to print the poem on rack cards and make it available to everyone in our parish.  We took care to size them just right to fit within the missalettes while at the same time being a good size to use as a bookmark.   You can read the poem here.

I think the cards have been well received.  However, I was struck by a comment made by one of the parishioners.  She happened to mention how wonderful she thought the cards were and that she wanted to take a bunch to share in her community because they could use a lesson in smiling.  What struck me after we spoke was how little I’ve  actually witnessed her smiling.  This led me to think about the fact that she probably perceived herself differently than what she presented to the world.  In her eyes she was happy and smiled often.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I did the same thing.  As a matter of fact, I remember walking into a Dunkin Donuts for coffee (assuming my good mood was evident) only to be greeted by the guy behind the counter mimicking my scowl.  Well that was an eye opener!  I would venture to guess many people do the same thing.  There’s a reason why we decided to make those smile cards and place them in our parish.  That’s not to say that our parish is not full of loving, generous, compassionate people.  As a parish and as a world, we just need to smile more.

Here’s the thing. I don’t think people mean to walk around with a frown or a scowl on their face.  The truth is, regardless of how easy it is, smiling requires a conscious effort.  We must be AWARE of the present moment.   Without present moment awareness, the easiest and least costly thing we can ever do becomes very difficult.  If you’re thinking about your chore list, work, past hurts, future projects and appointments,  it’s  almost impossible to smile.  Be honest, does the thought of all these things make you want to smile?  They may produce a scowl, a rapid heart rate or an overwhelming feeling but not a smile.

Living in the present makes it easier for us to focus on smiling and vice versa.  In thinking about my perception of myself and what I actually present to the world, I challenged myself to smile often today.  There were many moments when my mind wandered.  My thoughts focused on either my agenda for the day/weekend or some other thought.    It was at these moments that I failed at smiling.  However, when I remembered to keep smiling, I was transported back to the present moment, to an awareness without judgment.  For me, there seems to be a direct connection between present moment awareness and our tendency to smile.

I encourage you to challenge yourself today as well.  I hope that you will challenge yourself to smile more often and remain present and aware.  Challenge yourself to take stock of the person you perceive yourself to be.  Is it the same person you present to the world?  God bless you!