Stuck smile
Does anyone else ever have it where their smile sort of gets "stuck"? Or any expression, for that matter, I guess.
Over the years I've kind of trained myself to smile in response to people calling me or speaking to me or whatever, since my usual, blank expression seemed to unnerve people (they'd think I was angry with them, or uninterested, or upset, or so many other things when I simply didn't have anything to say with my face yet). But now I've been finding that my "smile" will sort of freeze on. Like if I finish serving a customer at work, who I was smiling at, I'll realize a few minutes later that I still have this stupid half smile on my face and that it's starting to feel really uncomfortable (it's always a relief when I drop it and go back to my blank default, like letting down a burden). I always feel like a bit of a moron when this happens since I imagine that it looks pretty gormless.
Yes, yes, YES! I have this problem what I'm trying to work on. In my experience I feel it is a nervous thing. The smile no longer becomes a friendly smile, but a permanent grin.
I work as a cleaner at an old people's home, and I don't use this stupid nervous grin if I am talking to other workers there or visitors or anything like that, but if I talk to the residents, I seem to go quite nervous (in a different sort of way). I think it's because I do not seem to have that authoritative skill in me AT ALL, and you do have to be at least a little authoritative with the residents because that is what they're there for: to be cared for. I do rationally know that most, if not, all of the residents don't display herd behaviour so much and so won't judge me like people in general can, but even so I still seem to feel nervous - and I then hold this permanent grin when in a situation where I have to deal with the residents.
I think this can be improved or cured or whatever you call it through therapy or confidence-building groups. I feel it is a trait that can be got rid of with the right sort of training.
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