Where Smiles Come From.

Today's Marketing Cookie is where the best smiles come from.

Phyllis Diller once said, "A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." She was right, and it really works! I know because I smile a lot. It's my favorite thing to do, especially when I'm happy. My nickname, after all, is "Smiles," and considering the alternative, it's a pretty good keyword for me.

As a marketer, I could write Today's Marketing Cookie about the universal welcome a warm smile can be when greeting your customers. Or perhaps talk about the influence a smile can have to soften even the hardest scowl. It would be an easy one to write, but somehow feels much too obvious. You already know that a company that smiles automatically looks better, so I won't belabor the point any further. Considering you are of above-average intelligence and hopefully willing to look at what is behind the smile, I would like to think about where smiles come from.

The next time you are alone in your car with the music turned off, by yourself in your office between meetings, or otherwise secluded without the usual distractions, take an inventory of what your face is doing. Are you smiling? If you catch yourself smiling when no one else is around, then that's when you truly mean it. A smile that forms in solitude is a measure of true satisfaction and it then gives you the confidence to smile for the benefit of others.

We may force a smile to quell confrontation, make up a smile to celebrate success, or even offer a smile to others as condolence for loss, but if you're not happy with yourself, what you put on your face is merely skin deep. Please don't get me wrong. I greatly admire people who are actively smiling their way through tremendous personal turbulence and unrest, but putting up a facade is tiresome work. Hopefully, the thunderstorm will pass and they will rediscover or recreate enough happiness in their world so the sun will smile again!

In closing, I'd like to come back to the beginning. While your smile is a gift you offer to everyone around you, the source of your happiness comes from you. Yes, every part of you. This includes your health, spirituality, finances, relationships, and your work. Nothing will ever be perfect, but being pleased with your goals and accomplishments is a regenerative source of confident smiles. When you're happy inside, your smiles will likely be good enough to wear all day long. I believe that's when today's fortune reaches its greatest potential when it says, "A smile increases your face value."