Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Power of smile!

This is a topic where a lot of it is obvious and probably well written by many. But still I wanted to add a perspective on this. Smile is a gift to humans though I do think animals do show their happiness in their equivalent of smile. What makes smile special is it reflects the soul. If eyes are the mirror of the heart then smile is the crown. I have rarely seen a person with genuine heart as reflected in their eyes not wear a smile. We are comfortable starting a conversation with such people (I am not talking of sales people who do their job by conversation). When I travel these faces stand out (glow) in crowds as they have magnified their souls with their smiles. If there is Godliness in everyone then smile is surely the manifestation of this..a child like smile in all situations make us feel good. Ofcourse we should cry when we feel like (not bottle this emotion up which creates distress) but after a session of crying try to smile from the heart. A good way to recharge our soul as when we smile it is not just the body which feels happy. Standing back from a situation to ensure fairness, less stress and true spirit of attached detachment says several old philosophies...the truth is if we truly stand back we can laugh at ourselves (the mess we have got ourselves into). But smile can be extremely powerful is a fact I learned recently. Our family got the taste of overbooking by airlines recently. The airline staff said " Sorry we are overbooked. But we can look at options". I was taken aback and my family started to get very aggressive. I had to hold them back and asked him with a smile and wink" So which hotel we stay? I would prefer something exotic!!". The staff was surprised at this and smiled back. He asked me to come inside the counter and look at his computer for options. He gave me some practical tips (the most expensive is not the best etc). Finally he gave some add ons which they give only to tough customers after prolonged negotiations.
He went to his Supervisor and got the next day direct flight fixed for us in Business class.
I was very impressed. I asked him why he stretched this far. His answer was he never faced a friendly customer for a long time and wanted to reciprocate what his soul said to him. There was a clear message for me...though customer is king if we act like one we never get treated like one. But if we act like equals we always get something more. Being polite and smiling in difficult situations does not do any damage at all. Maybe some will exploit this as weakness but in long run we always gain more than loosing our tempers. So if there is one thing the management school does not emphasize in soft skills it is developing the ability to smile in all situations. Believe me it helps much more than you think!!Keep Smiling!

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Gothenburg, Sweden
Still finding introspecting to find who am I? Waiting for a Guru!