Smile like you mean it

I read in a book once that if you say brush before you walk into a room it'll give you the perfect fake smile. Ever since, I've been saying brush a lot. In the past people have been amazed at how I could smile no matter what was going wrong, but that tightly held grimace was covering a whole lot of stress, angst and even anger.

I spent a long time believing that expressing anxiety, tension or dissatisfaction was a sign of lack of control. Clearly anyone who appears emotional and out of control must be, and anyone who seems calm and in control surely is. This isn't new thinking, but what's new to me is realizing that sometimes it's OK to not act in control if you aren't. Sometimes, for the sake of your sanity, it's OK to wipe off that air hostess grin and let people know you're not OK.

We have feelings for a reason, and we hide them at our peril.

Julian Baggini wrote an article for The Guardian on this topic in 2009 which I found interesting, you can see it here.

Recently I've been 'holding back' less - if I'm stressed, you'll know it, if I'm sad, you'll know it, but more importantly if I'm genuinely happy, you'll know it.