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Smiles

Takida Yuuta (National Institute of Technology, Oita College)

Have you ever heard of something effective in reducing stress, preventing cancer, enhances anti-aging, and relieves pain? This something costs nothing and has no bad side effects. Such a miracle drug exists around us. What is it? Yes, it's a smile. Please don't be disappointed with my answer. Nowadays, the power of smiles is scientifically proven and is gaining public attention.

It was at my grandmother's funeral that I became conscious of the power of smiles. Funerals and smiles? Most of you feel something strange about this combination, and I was no exception. But for my family and relatives, those two words were a good combination.

My grandmother passed away when I was 13. For the first time in my life, I experienced the death of a close family member. It was so shocking. Of course my family and I were all sad. But after the funeral was over, things gradually changed; there were some laughing voices coming from the waiting room of the funeral hall. Surprisingly, some of my relatives were drinking alcohol cheerfully, and others were enjoying chatting pleasantly. The waiting room was full of laughter as if it were a wedding reception. Most of all, my grandfather, who'd lost his beloved wife, gradually showed his grinning face as if he were having fun. I couldn't believe it! My image of funerals was that of everyone shedding tears in a quiet and sad mood. Then, my aunt came up to me and whispered, “If we have fun like this, your grandma will feel happy, too.” At that moment I recognized the power of smiles. Smiles cheer people up, no matter how sad they are. Since then, I became attracted by the power of smiles and I've wanted to master the power of bringing them to people's faces.

In my fourth year at Kosen, I began to work part time at a convenience store. Believe it or not, I wanted to work there to practice bringing smiles to customers' faces, and not to earn money. I named this “Smile Training”. We have various customers, and sometimes they are not very happy; some are throwing their money onto the counter arrogantly, and others are completely drunk. All I can do behind the counter is to just show an artificial smile. But in such occasions, I have a strong and dependable aunty co-worker. She is like a magician: she can talk to any type of customer, even gangsters, and within a few seconds she can draw a smile from them! Have you ever seen such a reliable clerk?

Whenever I saw her perfect attitude to customers, I said to myself, “If only I could become a magician like her!” In fact I had problems with my class at Kosen. My class lacks a sense of unity and its atmosphere is always dark. I hated this, so I tried to cheer my class up by saying, “Let's greet more cheerfully when starting and finishing each lesson!” or “Let's show more smiles!” But, those appeals were in vain…

One day, I had a chance to take primary and junior high school kids to a summer camp as one of their supervisors. Children of different ages, genders, and hometowns were very nervous to be with us at first, but soon they showed a beaming face with joy. Their smiles made me cheerful, and unconsciously I was also smiling back at them.

While spending time with them, I noticed something. My classmates at Kosen and I didn't have smile-to-smile relationships. At camp, both children and I smiled naturally; but at Kosen, I always forced my own values on others without considering their feelings. We cannot force people to make smiles. Smiles are naturally born from inside us. I learned such common sense from the children at camp.

Looking back on my grandmother's funeral, smiles and laughter came spontaneously from the attendees. Nobody forced it, which brought a warm smile to my grandfather's face. My dependable co-worker at the convenience store treats customers without prejudice, which draws a soft attitude from them. Children in the camp never showed their smiles toward our strict instructions, like “Do this!” or “Do that!”, but while we were enjoying programs together, they opened up their minds and smiled at us naturally. What does this mean? I finally noticed that the true magical power that I wanted to master was the skill of letting myself make a smile.

It is said that a smile has one more important effect: it transmits. I've heard a human brain reflects the conversation partner's emotions. So if you smile, your partner will smile back. Smiles are a universal factor to make people around you happy. We have a well-known proverb; “Warau Kado ni wa Fuku Kitaru”. It means happiness comes to cheerful homes. I strongly feel this is true, and I will try to do my best to plant more seeds of smiles around me. Why not share your happy smile with people around you from today?