Sometimes mom’s warnings had the reverse effect. This is one
of them.
When you’re mad, aggravated, frustrated, or otherwise full of
attitude, you’re hateful contrary, and you’re going to respond to your mom as
if she’d just dared you.
Besides, how cool would it be to have your eyes or your face
freeze? Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) tried really hard, naturally, but it
didn’t work. Oh, the disappointment!
Let’s face facts: Kids can make whatever faces they want, and
they won’t leave even the faintest mark. I used to practice frowning to see how
deep I could make the crevices between my eyebrows. To my dismay, the lines
disappeared without a trace as soon as I relaxed. How in the world would I be
taken seriously if I didn’t have some serious frown lines? My first summer of
lifeguard duty took care of the whole baby-smooth skin issue, let me tell you.
But you know what? Mom really was on the up and up on this
one. Sooner or later your attitude will show up on your face for the whole world to see. Are you a sourpuss? Well, you'll end up with a sour puss. Are you a Cranky McCrankypants? Then you'll wind up viewing life from behind a cranky, creaky, crinkly face.
You don’t need to apply the “loser” symbol to your forehead for the world to
know you are one: over time, your face will make it all too clear.
Once upon a time I worked with a woman who had a cynical, know-it-all attitude toward everything and everyone. Her face was deeply grooved from her nose clear down to her chin, showing that she spent far too much time showing her disdain. I also knew another woman who spent most of her life in sunny southern California. Her face was a mass of wrinkles; however, those wrinkles were an exquisite representation of her sunny disposition. Laugh lines fanned out from the corners of her eyes, and the creases that bracketed her mouth, echoed by smaller lines over her cheeks, showed just how much time she spent smiling and laughing. Beautiful!
Does this mean if you’re pissed off you should smile or if
you’re happy you should keep a poker face? Nope, I don’t think so. The Botox
biz is booming precisely because people are afraid of showing what they feel …
that they feel. A smooth face is a bland face. Feel what you feel and show what
you feel. Just keep in mind that what you feel, your overall demeanor, will sooner or later make itself evident and your face really will "freeze that way."
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