A letter to Afia: The power of a genuine smile

Dear Afia,

I write this letter in response to a genuine concern you expressed in your text message to me. You stated emphatically how paranoid you become when you meet people on your way to an event and they fail to greet you or give you a smile. You stated that such disdainful behaviour alone can really piss you off.

Afia, such is life. We often become quick to apportion a chunk of the blame to other people only for us to realize that people apportion that same blame to us. In my candid view, the people you met on your way early that morning were also expecting you to give them a smile. They were also expecting you to be the first to greet them.

I wish to talk to you about one friend of mine who is also a friend to everyone. Should we ever find ourselves together someday, walking through the aisles of love to the altar of holy matrimony, our relationship should be injected with the friendly gimmicks of this loyal friend of mine.

Probably you may have met him on the street. If not, then trust me, you may meet him tomorrow coming down the street. In my opinion, he is the greatest friend the world has ever known? Through his kind gestures and his enigmatic smiles, he has won the love and trust of many people on earth. Who is he? When you get within ten feet of him, he will begin to wag his tail in utmost excitement and joy. If you bend down and pat him affectionately, he will almost jump out of his skin to show you how much he adores and appreciates you. And you can be rest assured that behind this show of affection on his part, there are no ulterior motives: he doesn’t want you to vote for him in order for him to become a president, he doesn’t want to sell Max International’s cell gevity to you and most importantly, he doesn’t want to marry you. I am pretty sure that by now you are picturing how nice my friend could be. It is the dog; virtually a friend to everyone on earth.

Fascinatingly, the dog has never read any book on psychology. It knew by some divine instinct that you can make more friends in a month by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can within a year by trying to get other people interested in you.

Come to think of it! You have been trying all day long to slowly recover from the rebuke of a boss only for you to come face- to-face with someone you have never met in your lifetime and this person is expecting you to be laughing or smiling as you walk the street. Who does that? After all you have your own monsters and beasts to face in life. But I still strongly hold the view that you should be the first to give a passionate smile anytime you come across people.

Walking along the streets of every country, one is likely to come across a variety of people. Ranging from boys to girls, males to females, the sane and the insane. Most of these people that are spotted on our streets are always feeling the pangs and pains of outright rejection. They wake up from their beds each morning with their head aching and theirs minds exhausted. Majority of these people also give a chunk of the blame to the people they meet in their daily activities. Most people struggling with the burden of rejection always think that others should be the first to give them an infectious smile.

Afia, smiles may be natural or fake. The broad, genuine, expressive, infectious and spontaneous smile can really mean a lot to the giver and the receiver. Whether natural or fake, each smile tells you something important and peculiar about its wearer. There are many in the world that see nothing good to smile about. If you see such people; why not give them one of your infectious smiles? And I can bet my last dime on the fact that smiles that are birthed from the springs of a sincere and genuine heart are really contagious and infectious. A genuine smile from you will surely be reciprocated and given back to you in a good measure. Never be stingy with your smiles. Wear them like you wear your make-up. Smiles should be given freely and passionately; knowing very well that smiles will never erode your beauty. Genuine smile will rather make you look more glamorous.

Yours truly,

Elvis.

THE WRITER IS EFFAH ELVIS

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