Musing about the happy face

I had a conversation today about "putting on the happy face" and how exhausting it can be. The person I was talking to said I was wrong to even put on the happy face in the first place...asked me why did I do that and why did I think I needed to. So I started musing about the reasons why. One definition of happy in the dictionary is:characterized by or indicative of pleasure, contentment, or joy: a happy mood; a happy frame of mind.Thus...a happy face is appropriate if you want to indicate pleasure, contentment, or joy in your face.  Scenario: You are in a social setting and someone comes up to have a conversation with you. They say, " how are you doing?" You say, "I'm feeling great." They say, "You are looking great!" If I didn't have my happy face on and I was still feeling great, would they think I was feeling great? The flipside of this is I may not be feeling great at all either physically, mentally, or emotionally, but do they really want to hear all my problems at a social event? Probably not. Putting on the happy face is an important part of being in a social environment. But when I'm home or when I'm with people who will just be comfortable with me whether I'm feeling well or wearing the happy face or not...ahhh that is comfort at it's best. 

Another reason to put on the happy face is that it is has been taught and expected of me during my growing up years on into my career years. As a young child I remember hearing from my parents, "why the gloomy face?" If I explained the reasons why I had the gloomy face, I was told that it wasn't as bad as I thought so I needed to change my attitude. My first job taught me that the customer is always right. All my years in customer service demanded a happy face and a smile in my voice - no matter what was going on inside my head and body. I can see the value in that. If I'm a customer, I don't want to feel bad for the person taking care of my problem as a customer. I don't want to hear about their problems at home or what their job is like. I want to feel good about being a customer and doing business with them. 

 Therefore I rest my case. The happy face is an important part of our physical being. It is appropriate in some environments. The masks we wear at times is not about hiding who we are, it is about being who others want us to be for their happiness...like our gift to them.
Awww...that feels better. No need for "the happy face"...just really being content with that smile on my face.