Don't postpone joy . . .

John Mason's "Nugget of the Week" which I received by email today . . .

Ever forward . . . ><>

My wife and I decided to have a cup of coffee at the local IHOP. Inside, we were greeted by a very friendly, happy, smiling waitress. It didn't take us long to notice that she only had one tooth. On the top and in the middle.

I thought, isn't that interesting? Here's a woman with one tooth, yet she works in a job that requires a lot of up-close people contact. She's smiling, doing a good job. Then, I noticed a button she was wearing: "A smile is a gift you can give every day."

What a profound scene this was. So much so that I complemented her on her button and sincerely told her she had a nice smile. I wondered if anyone had ever told her that.

When she returned to our table she told me that her father had done the calligraphy on the button. She said, "He had his fingers cut off in an industrial accident, and then decided to pick up calligraphy after that!" In fact, his writing was now better than before the tragedy.

Perhaps only a woman raised by a fingerless dad who does calligraphy can choose to smile even though she has only one tooth...

Enthusiasm makes everything different. You can't control the length of each day, but you can control its impact by adding fun and enthusiasm. When you have enthusiasm for life, life has enthusiasm for you. William Ward said, "Enthusiasm and persistence can make an average person superior; indifference and lethargy can make a superior person average."

Don't postpone joy. Instead, be like the Mona Lisa- she keeps smiling even when her back's to the wall. If you find yourself dog-tired at night, it may be because you growled all day. Learn to laugh at yourself. A person with a great sense of humor may bore others, but he rarely has a dull moment himself.

One of the single most powerful things you can do to have influence over others is to smile at them.

You are never fully dressed until you wear a smile. It's the best face-lift!

A smile is an asset; a frown is a liability.

Some people grin and bear it; others smile and change it.

Smiling-being happy and enthusiastic-is always a choice, not a result. It improves your personality and others' opinion of you. Both enthusiasm and pessimism are contagious. How much of each do you spread? Our attitudes tell others what we expect in return. A laugh a day keeps the negative away. You can succeed at almost anything for which you have unlimited enthusiasm.

-John Mason, from the book Imitation is Limitation