Yes, you hear me. I paid for my teeth. I traded the teeth I was born with for what I thought was going to be a big beautiful smile that I could show to the world. The problem was I didn’t have anything to smile about at the time. And in actuality, the teeth God gave me weren’t all that bad.

I was so self conscious that I found myself smiling with my lips closed. And that would have been fine if I hadn’t most of my life smiled like a horse, teeth exposed to the last molar.

I thought the fix was to “buy” pretty teeth that would make me want to smile again. The dentist handed me the mirror and I gasped in disbelief. It seems the prophecy of a horse smile had come true…my teeth were so big they looked like the horses I had grown up with!

I then spent my time not only smiling with my lips closed, but trying to talk with them closed as well. It didn’t turn out so well. If you wanted to read symbolism into it, it would go hand in hand with the fact that I had lost my VOICE.

I am so blessed and full of gratitude – Blessitude, because I have come to realize that my reticence to smile had nothing to do with how my teeth looked. It had to do with my lonely heart that had forgotten how to love. It seems appropriate to write this on Valentine’s Day. I have spent the last two and a half years reestablishing the relationship with myself in which I extend love not only to me, but to all beings on the planet.

And guess what? I own the giant horse teeth and I use them every chance I get! Some people are shocked when a stranger flashes a smile at them. On my walk the other day I flashed a big ol’ Mister Ed smile and the lady stopped walking because she thought she knew me. Then she looked embarrassed when she couldn’t come up with a name and wanted to scurry on out of there. I flashed another one to say, “It’s okay…because you really do know me.” She seemed content with that and continued on.

I went with a group of 8 girlfriends to lunch at the bagel store yesterday. They were laughing and carrying on. I was the only one who noticed a middle aged woman who was on the line holding a teenage girl who was crying. They were locked in an embrace for more than a minute. The woman was facing me and we caught eyes. I smiled at her, not the giant horse smile but a knowing smile that said, “I feel the pain of that embrace and I am so happy that you can give her comfort.” She smiled back and it said, “Thank you for your support. Thank you for noticing. We are doing the best that we can.”

There is always a dialogue in a smile if you listen for it. So on this Valentine’s Day, the day we use to symbolize LOVE, go out of your comfort zone and smile – use your choppers – to as many people that you can. Watch how good you feel when people smile back, because they usually do. And my take is the people who don’t smile back are the ones who need your smile the most, so don’t be discouraged – I know you helped them.

In Blessitude – HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!