You smile, I smile…

When I was ten years old, my parents took us on an outing to Oliver Tambo International Airport (which was Jan Smuts back in the day) one Sunday afternoon.  It was a huge treat.  In those days everyone was still allowed on the outside balcony to watch the planes land and depart.  I don’t know whether it’s the fact that I’m a Sagittarius and that my zodiac sign is ranked first for loving to travel, but I just love airports.

…Maybe it’s because they remind us how easy it all is – to leave, to return, to roam far, to stay close. We spend years agonizing over what to do next – should we stay, should we go, should we linger, should we leave. And at the airport, it all seems so simple – there are limitless planes, headed to limitless corners of the planet. Within 48 hours, we could be just about anywhere we want. And suddenly none of it seems so complicated. It’s a gate and a nap and a meal and a window seat. 

Anyway, on that particular Sunday, there was a huge dining room where an extravagant buffet-lunch was served.  Our waiter was Matthew, and he had a silver brooch attached to his white shirt that read: “My name is Matthew.  Tell me if I’m not smiling…”

I was thinking about this last Sunday as I was driving home from the airport after a much-cherished weekend in Stellenbosch with Mariné.  Jacaranda FM was hosting the most peculiar competition.  Listeners had to recognize the nationalities of different men laughing out loud! I have to admit, to me each of them sounded like a happy Afrikaner “boere-omie” roaring with laughter around a campfire…

In fact, very few listeners were able to distinguish between the laughter of the Italian, American and African male voices featured on the programme…The matter intrigued me.  Do nationalities really laugh differently?  I have done some research the past week on the topic and I couldn’t find any substantial proof…

It’s George Perez, the retired American comic book writer who once said: “Laughter…the universal language.  Healer of discord.  Mother of unity.”  Laugh and the world laughs with you, literally.  It’s one of our human instincts – we are born with the ability to do it; we laugh before we even learn to speak.  It doesn’t matter what language we speak, it’s simply a fact that people of all cultures laugh.

Laughter bonds us together, it’s our social glue, and it often acts as a release of pent-up feelings.  And, whatever our reasons for laughing, it’s hard to fake and sometimes hard to stop.  An editorial in The American Journal of Psychology in 1907 said that laughter’s “largest function is that it frees us from vanity, on the one hand, and from pessimism on the other, by keeping us larger than what we do, and greater than what can happen to us.”

Wow, huge wisdom!  I remember my favourite childhood doll – her name was “Giggles”, and when you opened and closed her arms, infectious giggles gushed out.  We giggled together for hours…

A rolling belly laugh always ignites harmony like a musical symphony.  “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere”, said Dr Seuss.

When I think of our studio, some of my fondest memories I have are those when we burst out laughing during a serious Pilates class about an inside joke or an unexpected, witty remark, or when there’s an unexpected blooper in our step class. That spontaneous laughter always has a way to soothe our souls and finely tunes our attitudes.

And the smiles – oh they are plentiful and precious.  I have witnessed what a reassuring smile can do to release a newcomer’s anxiety.  I have experienced what a spontaneous smile can do to my mindset when someone loves a song during our Cardio fun class and catches my eye in the mirror, and I have seen what an encouraging smile can do when a member is struggling to complete a set of barbell presses.

“People want to know if smiling can help them overcome hardship in these tough economic times”, says Elan Sun Star, author of the new book, ‘Smile!’.  “A smile”, says the world-famous photographer, “carries the ability to transform one’s own health, ignite a smile in others, and ultimately transform the world for good.”

Beautiful, isn’t it?  Idealistic?  No.  Dr Norman Cousins, an American journalist, firmly believes that he cured his own cancer by watching funny movies and laughing out loud.  And surely you have heard the true story of Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hughes, who ordered his troops in Iraq to put down their weapons and use a smile to defuse a potentially dangerous encounter with an angry throng of Iraqis!

Did you know that smiling one time, just one smile, can stimulate your brain on the same level as eating 2000 bars of chocolate?!  A recent study estimated that children smile up to 400 times a day – and by the time we reach adulthood we’re down to an average 20 smile daily…Scary, huh?

…It’s no secret that the simple act of smiling can transform you and the world around you.  Each time we smile, we throw a little feel-good party in our brains.  We’re really even better-looking when we smile.  When we smile, people treat us differently – we’re viewed as reliable, relaxed, and sincere.

I have learned that a smile is one of the biggest attributes of a fitness instructor – it influences our clients’ perception and mindset significantly.  It motivates everyone during a tough class, it helps form first impressions and is a clear indication of a pledge to offer a satisfactory service.  Just like Matthew, they should obligate all fitness instructors to wear those brooches that allow clients to tell us if we’re not smiling.

Or maybe we should simply all remind ourselves to smile more.  Why?  Because our smiles are contagious.   A smile has a magical power; it makes everyone smile back.  As the wise Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh once said:

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

It’s 2022 – we need all the help we can get to relieve stress, and this happy expression can do just that.  We don’t all wear those broad, bright smiles of Julia Robberts and Grace Kelly, but isn’t it nice to know that no matter where we are in the world, we can communicate at least a little with a giggle, or a chuckle, or a sincere, sweet smile.

Never underestimate your smile – those unuttered words of your smile can rewrite the history of this wonderful world.

Enjoy Valentine’s Day tomorrow, in the studio we surely are going big on this one this year…

Yours in fitness

Mirna

082 779 0507