“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
This past July when President Obama turned fifty, there was a great article in the New York Times about his aging face. The bottom line is that no different than any of us, Obama is getting older and grayer.
Time, heredity, sunlight, illness, mood, good and bad fortune leave their mark on our faces. Here is a timeline for an aging face and some suggestions to help cope.
There is only so much you can do about wrinkles, crow’s feet and hanging jowls, but there is one facial expression within your control that can make a difference. It is your smile.
Our smile is our power and the source of our joy. Smiling works proactively to put others at ease. It’s the one thing that radiates out into our universal language of love. Smiles have no demarcations in race, gender, class and, best of all, age. When all else fails, as it will, smile to your past, present and future.
BubbeWisdom 