Smile

What is in a smile? Is it pure, unadulterated joy? Or is it the obligation you feel to make your friends, family, and even strangers know that you are fine, although you are not? When did childish expressions of glee slowly morph into a grimace of committed happiness? Why is it necessary to always be happy, to give the answer “I’m fine, I’m okay…” by rote? Your embarrassment, misery, confusion and turmoil is not a shameful secret that needs to be stowed away for the times you are alone or when you inevitably release all that tension in a burst of emotional upheaval; Your smile is your own. Only you can show the moments you are truly happy and rely on your support in the times you can not bring your lips to quirk upwards in false joy. Only you can understand what you are truly feeling, whether it be good or bad. But that doesn’t mean you have to stifle yourself because of social expectations. Every bit of emotion you feel is what makes you human; makes you a living, breathing expression of personality instead of a joyless smiling doll. That ‘smile’ might be the last thing you see in a mirror or from a friend. So smile when you can, not when you have to. Your smile is your own, and no one should change you.