Jack’s Winning Words 10/29/15
“A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.”  (St Therese of Lisieux)  Many have found comfort in the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all who have heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  I’ve read that every person has at least one “inner secret” that would break your heart.  I don’t know about “every person,” but many have burdens.  Who knows?  Perhaps your smile and your kind word can ease someone’s load today.    ;-)  Jack

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  I think there are a lot of people out among the public who simply are lonely.  They would just like to have someone notice them and show it.  A smile goes a long way, as an unspoken greeting to them, and a "hello" is a bonus.  I've had such an experience when taking a bus in the city, and it was apparent when we parted that the person got a boost from the opportunity to chat.  Who knows how much it affected the rest of that person's day.====JACK:  My sister-in-law was waited on by a bank teller who did not smile and seemed rude.  My s-i-l said to her, "Are you having a bad day, or are you always this way?"  I don't know what the response was.  Did this qualify as "a word or a smile"?

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  There is nothing like getting a smile back when you give one away! ====JACK:  It can be the case that someone is so engrossed  with their problem(s) that they see a smile as something negative.  "What's there to smile about?"  Smile anyway!

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Totally agree with St. Therese! Almost everyone responds to a kindly smile, and maybe How Are You ?  I do this on the street, in the grocery store, shopping, in restaurants &certainly in church.  I just read a little poem on ' Smiles" at our Senior Event this month:  "Smiling is infectious, you can catch it like the flu; when someone smiled at me today, I started smiling too!  I passed around the corner, and someone saw me grin, when HE smiled, I realized I'd passed it on to him!  I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth. A single smile just like mine could travel round the Earth!  So if you feel a smile begin, Don't leave it undetected...Let's start an epidemic, quick, and get the World infected!!====JACK:  Marianne LaFrance, an experimental psychologist at Yale University has published a new book Lip Service: Smiles in Life, Death, Trust, Lies, Work, Memory, Sex, and Politics.  It explores the nuances and effects of an expression we use often, but rarely think about...why we smile and why we do it.