It is love that makes the world go round. And it is also love that has such power to overcome all difficulties. So we say: "Love will find a way." As a smile is a facial expression showing pleasure, affection, and friendliness, it is the commonest way to show our good will perfectly without saying anything. A Chinese saying runs: "Never hit a person who is smiling at you." It is a time-proven fact that the smile is a language all its own — a universal language — understood by the people of every nation in the world. We may not speak the same tongue as our foreign neighbors, but we smile in the same tongue. We need no interpreter for thus expressing love, happiness, or good will.
One day while shopping in a small town in southern California, it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk whose personality clashed with mine. He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase. I bought nothing and marched angrily out of the store. My antagonism toward that clerk and the entire establishment mounted with each step.
On the outside, standing at the curb, was a dark-complexioned young man in his early twenties. His expressive brown eyes met and held mine, and in the next instant, a beautiful, dazzling smile covered his face. I succumbed immediately. The magnetic power of that radiant smile dissolved all bitterness within me, and I found the muscles in my own face happily responding. "Beautiful day, isn't it?" I remarked in passing. Then, obeying an impulse, I turned back. "I really owe you a debt of gratitude," I said softly.
His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer. A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby. The woman stepped forward and eyed me inquiringly. "Carlos, he no speak English," she volunteered. "You want I should tell him something?"
In that moment, I felt transformed. Carlos' smile had made a big person of me. My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stood ten feet tall.
"Yes," my reply was enthusiastic and sincere, "tell him I said, 'Thank you!'"
"Thank you?" The woman seemed slightly bewildered.
I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave. "Just tell him that," I insisted. "He'll understand, I am sure!"
Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning. From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art diligently, anywhere and everywhere, with everybody.
When I made a mistake in traffic, taking the right-of-way from another car with my blundering, I'd smile and hunch my shoulders apologetically. This action on my part would invariably draw a good-natured smile in return. If the other fellow was at fault — and if I could remember my resolution in time! — he'd get a broad smile of understanding. This took a bit of doing at first. I'll admit it wasn't always easy, but it was fun. The results were sometimes amazing. Many times, a broad, friendly smile would completely ward off ill-feeling and tension. I'm wondering now how many tragic accidents could be avoided on our overcrowded highways if every person behind a steering wheel remembered to smile!
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "All our other features were made for us, but a man makes his own mouth." Keep smiling, and you'll not only be glad that you're alive, but the other fellow will be glad, too!