Fake it til you make it

There’s a man handing out free metro newspapers at Grand Central Station when you’re leaving the shuttle and entering the station proper.  He is always smiling.  It starts with his face and moves into his voice and his body.  He has an aura of happy.  He always makes me smile.

This man has every right to be a curmudgeon.  He doesn’t get to sit or check email or chat with colleagues.  He’s alone among a sea of uninterested strangers pushing past to get to anywhere but there.  It’s not the most pleasant job.

I believe in faking it til you make it.  Smile when buying bananas from the fruit vendor or meeting with a client.

They say it takes something like 43 muscles to frown but only 17 muscles to smile.  Apparently the truth is it takes 12 to smile and 11 to frown.  So maybe it does feel like work, but a smile changes the feeling in your heart, even if it’s fake to begin with.  And people pick up on that good vibe.

If you look like you’re having fun, they’ll have fun with you.  You might even end up having fun also.    Give it a try and see what happens.