there is a handful of humans who think i have it too easy. they believe that the world just opens up before me and provides me undue rewards and riches. these boons come in all sorts of sizes and looks. my assumption has always been that everyone gets these sorts of things. they can be as big as scoring the mother i did and as small as getting the good table by the window. those that don't know me too well say it's because i'm lucky. one of my closest friends says it's because i look sorta pathetic, like a lost dog. my wife believes it has something to do with my conversational approach of no small-talk and lots of curiosity. for people who make a legitimate claim of this, i've learned to just to quietly listen, mostly because i know there's nothing to be done about their position and i'd rather do something more interesting with those minutes.

during the recent trip to alabama, for the first time in my life, i got to be on the other side of that opinion. on multiple occasions i found myself staring at one of my travel partners, tommy, fully agog. i could not believe the stuff this guy was pulling off. at every turn he was bending situations in his/our favor and at each of these moments, the universe happily contorted to his wish.

of course, the obvious question is what sort of things am i talking about. here's a middle of the road example. after we got our pit passes, we were supposed to get these lanyard deals to carry them in. the woman that should have supplied them ran out of her supply and said we'd have to just carry them in our hands and show them when asked. i was still in a bit of disbelief that this all actually happened and we were welcomed into talledegha's pit row. given our luck i was plenty happy to carry this badge and show it as needed. not fifty feet out of the office, we started walking through a long line of semi-trailers for the various race sponsors: goodyear, firestone, goodwrench, etc. tommy veered towards three men sitting by one of the vendor trailers and started talking them up. the race minutes away, they looked to be relaxing, their work for the day seemingly done. for that reason and a few others, they did not strike me as a set of fellows to be trifled with. after a short exchange one of the men got up, told tommy to follow him and disappeared into one of the long, lavish trailers. tommy turned and gave us an encouraging smile. moments later the man re-emerged with these fancy lanyard setups we could carry our passes in. further he took the time to show us how to best get them set up and see that we were all taken care of before sending us on our way like we were his own kin visiting for the day.

after this exchange, which was in the middle of a long line of such interactions, i commented to tommy on what i was seeing. like me, he innocently asked what i meant. i said, sounding somewhere between a fan-boy and the peeved detractors who razz me on my unfair advantages, that it was curious how the world just seemed to open up before him paving the way for a good day. in reply he said, "you'd be amazed at what a smile and hello can get you".

actually i wouldn't be amazed. his comment and the smiling phenomenon he references reminded me of a game i used to play when walking to work. i worked on a university campus and on the way to my office would pass all sorts of people, students mostly. i was often struck by how stone-faced people were. by my math we were all at one of the best places to be within five hundred miles and thought everyone should be a bit more giddy at their fortune. but emotional wall after emotional wall is what i saw every morning. so i started playing a game of sorts. as i passed people i would smile brightly and say hello or good morning. the level of this greeting was not a flat courtesy. it came off more like i recognized them and was greeting a friend. each and every time i did this, i was met in kind. those tired and lifeless faces burst to life as if by magic as they smiled in response and said hello back. and each and every time, they went from flat and boring to energized and beautiful instantaneously. the dramatic transformations could only be described as remarkable.

and those were only manufactured smiles. in time this got me to studying truly genuine and joyful smiles. to see someone in an completely authentic moment of happiness or joy is seeing someone at their visual best. there is just something so viscerally innocent and real about a person expressing a moment of bliss that is unmatched.

now to be fair, tommy (and all three of his siblings) have these natural and gigantic smiles. the kind you've heard described as million-dollar smiles. and yes, this may give them an undue advantage in the smile wars of life but just because you can't sing like whitney or serve like serena doesn't mean you shouldn't play. just know that you always look your best when smiling. and just like with singing and tennis, doing more of it will only make you better at it. and strong odds are, smiling more will brighten life not just for you but for those before you. so smile big and smile often!