Put On A Happy Face

“You have to be intentional about giving yourself something to look forward to. You have to prioritize your joy.”
— Allan Watts

You ever have a day when reality and the way things actually — TRULY — are hits you smack dab right in the middle of the face? Yeah. Me too. Had one recently in fact.

I was leaving the gym where I teach part time and it’s Texas so the sun was a blazin’, it was a thousand degrees and even with a ball cap on, the light was so bright and so strong that I had no choice but to squint to find my way to the car. As I was approaching it, another car pulled up next to me and rolled down the window.

It was someone I know from the gym.

“Hi Jeff!” she hollered.

“Hi!”

“Are you happy today, Jeff?” she asked.

Huh? Well, I know that English isn’t her first language, so oddities in the way she communicates happen sometimes. I’m quite used to them by now. But the way she asked me that question sounded weird to me, still.

“What’s that?” I asked for clarity.

“Are you happy? You look happy today.”

“Ah, cuz I’m smiling you mean?”

“Yes, you have a big smile today.”

“Ah, well, it’s really just the sun is in my eyes and I’m having to squint to see and I guess that makes my face—” I cut myself off as the absurdity of my words began to wash over my brain. She asked me if I’m happy because my squinting. And squinting causes my face muscles to tense up and the end result is I look like I’m smiling. Just let it be. Smile and nod.

“Indeed, happy day!”

And that was it.

Except it wasn’t it. That interaction stuck with me. And as I began to piece together her rather innocuous observation that compared to most days, my smiling face made it look like I’m actually happy, so much so that it caught this person’s attention enough that she stopped her car, rolled down the window and asked me as much. She was happy to see me happy, even if I was just squinting.

Holy cow, bruh! You wear your emotions on your sleeve sometimes.

So much of our mood is determined by how we hold ourselves, how we go about life. Sometimes we just need a kick in the teeth, or some sun in the eyes, to force a smile on our face.

Smile!!!

Have you ever been surprisingly called out on your bah-humbug demeanor? How did you handle it? Did it help you make changes? Tell me in the comments!