Reasons to Smile

Zig Ziglar once said,

"A smile is a little curve that set a lot of things straight."

I'm not a smiler. I'm happy, but I'm not a natural smiler. I don't know if I'm self conscious about my teeth or because I've spent so many years on the back side of the camera. But, lately I've been practicing smiling. Sounds kind of silly doesn't it? Well, I do. I learned a long time ago, the only way to get better at something is to practice, so in the mornings while standing in front of my mirror doing my hair and makeup, I practice smiling. And, one trick I have for meetings, and public speaking appearances, is I actually write the word "smile" on top of a notebook. Cheesy i know. Smiling just isn't natural for me, and I'm not a fake smiler either. Some people's lip lines automatically curve into a smile, and some are always cackling on and have that fake, "I'm a Barbie doll" smile. But that just isn't me.

So, while brushing my pearly whites this morning and practicing my smile, I thought I need to think of things that make me smile. And I did. Here is that list, in no particular ranked order:

~Reading my friends' Luke and Catherine's blog (usually makes me laugh out loud!)
~Getting a phone call or e-mail from a particular Southern gentleman
~Being around my "little" friends--those under the age of 16 who call me Aunt Shelia and know I would go to the moon and back for them.
~Looking at photos of friends and family and reminiscing about times spent together.
~Dreaming about the future.
~Friendly e-mails, phone calls and e-mails from past and present NJAA members.
~Seeing my Angus family at shows and events
~Spending time with my family and friends.
~A good glass of wine, and apparently last Saturday night, this slice of homemade pizza made me smile too!



What makes you smile?