We may never be able to explain truly the power of a smile.
I was at a mall yesterday and like all other malls, it was filled with a lot of people probably shopping for the week as it was Saturday.
After a while, I found myself at the coffee section just to get a bottle of water because I was so dehydrated. I took a sit at the end of the shop so I could look out the window just so I didn't get idle.
About fifteen minutes later, an old lady, very pretty took a sit at a table right beside me with her shopping cart.
She then looked in my direction and asked if I would like to have coffee with her, I politely declined because I really didn't have that time and she was also still a stranger to me.
When her coffee arrived, I was still there, sipping my water and scrolling through my phone when she asked me to come and sit with her and keep her company, I was at first skeptical but she seemed so genuine and also really lonely so I obliged and sat opposite her.
She started the conversation and said I had a pretty smile, that caught me off guard at first because I really didn't remember smiling at her.
But she went back after probably feeling my uneasiness and said that while I was sitting at the window looking out as people walked in and out I apparently smiled at her, I remember smiling at anyone who made eye contact with me so I couldn't possibly remember all of them.
But yes, that was how our conversation started and I spent quite a while talking to her, seems really insignificant but I know what I learnt within the period I sat with her and when she left.
And right before I left, she gave me a hug and said 'keep on smiling'... That went a long way in making my day pretty awesome.
The best part for me was the fact that she was white, it was a reminder that the world truly is evolving, who knew that today a black and white person would sit and have a conversation. days like this we have reasons to be grateful to the likes of Nelson Mandela.
And yea, you can be sure I left that mall smiling at every single individual I passed.
My point, I think smiling brings opportunities, it turns days around, and it costs nothing really just to smile at someone, you never really know who needed that reassurance from your smile.
