Nathan Hangen

What if You Couldn’t Smile?

But I’m Smiling on the Inside!

This might end up being an odd post, but I was inspired by something that happened to me today and I can’t help but to see how this post ends up. One of my least favorite things to do is to get dental work, but in a dentist’s chair was exactly where I found myself today. I didn’t need anything major, just a few old cavities to be fixed. It had been several years since I’d had anything more than a cleaning, but the process hadn’t changed much.

They inject you with a bunch of Novocaine and you sit until your mouth feels like it is melting and you have no control over your facial expressions. Then, for some reason known only to those in the medical field, they begin to try and have conversations with you. Don’t they realize that you have no control over the movements of your face? Don’t they realize that you feel like an idiot trying to move your mouth to communicate? Is this some sort of joke?

But…I digress. I made it out of the chair alive and they sent me on my way. As usual though, the medicine hadn’t worn off yet and my face was still numb as hell for another 2 hours or so. This is where it hit me, over the course of several attempted conversations. I realized that I couldn’t smile, at least I didn’t feel like I could.

What this did to my personality was amazing. Not being able to smile made me feel like an outsider. I couldn’t respond emotionally to people that I wanted to thank or send a little reassurance to. I couldn’t act like myself, and I felt terribly uncomfortable. Such an odd reaction for such a simple thing lost.

What I realized is that being able to smile is a gift. Smiling can literally change the way you feel about yourself, your life, and others around you. I hadn’t anticipated this reaction, but it happened nonetheless.

Odd to think that something we do so often can be taken for granted the way it is. To experiment yourself, try going to get some dental work done…no, just kidding. Seriously though, just try and spend a day without smiling and see how it makes you feel. See how it changes the way you interact with people. If your experience is anything like mine was, you’ll probably feel like an onlooker, rather than someone that belongs where you are. A small distinction I know, but sometimes small things can change our worlds in amazing ways.

Smiling In Other Places

Now, take this concept to the internet world, where many of us play. Take a look at your interactions online and examine how “happy” they are. Do you phrase things differently on a bad day?

I used to work for a direct marketing company and we’d have to make phone appointments in order to survive. Our motto was “smile when you dial,” and it really made a difference. The same thing applies to your interaction with others in the social media landscape. Sometimes, a simple can make a big difference.

Even if your comments look neutral, sometimes just trying to spin your Tweets, comments, and replies in a positive light, rather than a neutral or negative, can have a big impact on the reaction you receive.

What do you think?

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