The Magic of a Great Smile

I live in Thailand, the Land of Smiles, as it is often called. The Thais pride themselves of their easy, natural and beautiful smiles.

Many times I have gone out and felt touched by the wonderful smile of someone whom I had never seen and will probably never see again. It might have been a passerby on the street, a market vendor, or someone who stopped at a red light on their motorbike and flashed me one of those great Thai smiles.

What I love about the smiles in Thailand is that total strangers, including those of the opposite sex, will smile at you without ever feeling that this might be inappropriate or seductive or overly friendly.

Thais are normally quite shy people, but this is one area where there is no shyness and no hesitation at all. They give away the greatest smiles to anyone at any time and there does not have to be a reason or justification for it. This is the Land of Smiles, after all.

I write a lot about Thai massage and the magic of touch. But touch is not restricted to the hands. You can be touched by kind words or deeds, by a song, by a scene in nature, or by a smile.

And neither is smiling an exclusively Thai phenomenon although in many parts of the world it does not come as naturally as in Thailand.

Today I found a video that definitely touched me deep in my heart and I think it will do the same for you. It is a video about smiling. Take 16 minutes to watch it and you will be smiling too and feel great for the rest of the day.