Editor's note: This I Believe is a nationwide essay project that aims to inspire public discourse about belief. For the third straight year, the R&L is publishing one local essay every day of February. For more information, visit www.thisibelieve.org.
I believe in smiles. Smiles are simple, happy, silly and comforting. We use smiles to communicate emotion, to show trust, to flirt -- or even hide pain.
As a child, I was extremely shy and terrified to speak to anyone, especially adults. But if I could smile, I wouldn’t have to say a word. Smiling said “hello” without speaking words, so I smiled. I smiled at everyone!
I remember my parents’ friends saying “She has such a pretty smile.” Unknowingly, this gave me a feeling of self-worth, a power I was unfamiliar with. I learned that I could use my smile as a mask. I could put on my smile and my awkward shyness disappeared.
Smiling empowered me enough to survive my tortuous teenage years. I smiled to make new friends, at the boy waiting by my locker, when I didn’t understand my homework, when my boyfriend scored a touchdown, when I came home late and broke curfew and even to hide the pain of breaking up with that boy who waited by my locker. I smiled because I survived.
As a young adult, I was still vulnerable and fighting some shyness, but I kept smiling. I smiled when I got my first job, when I got promoted, when I got married and I even smiled when I got divorced. I was becoming a person I didn’t recognize anymore. I was becoming more independent and gaining more self-esteem. I liked this person. I knew that this person was resilient, strong, a little silly -- but happy -- and that’s how I wanted to live my life. That’s what I wanted for each person I met to see in me. Even if they could just see it through my smile.
The first time I saw my son smile was the first time I truly understood the power of this silly facial expression. I became overwhelmed with joy and love. To this day, the more I smile, the more he smiles. Smiles are contagious! What happens if you smile at strangers? They smile back. What a huge gift this is! It’s something we all have to give and something we all can receive.
Even now, my shyness appears. But I’ve learned throughout my life that I can smile and it gives me a sense of calmness and connects me to each person that I meet.
Smile.
This, I believe, is part of what made me who I am today and who I want to be tomorrow.
Mandy McLaughlin works at the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Leadership Statesville Class of 2012.
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