The power of a smile. - Vallarta Nayarit Blog " />

The power of a smile.

In 2007 a short film came out that rapidly spread throughout the world on Youtube. The film is called Validation by director Kurt Kuenne.

The message of this short film can be summed up in a phrase, used by the protagonist: “You are great! Just smile!”

In effect, a large part of the success of this story is based on the fact that an honest and simple smile can directly affect our emotional state.

Here we find ourselves with a dilemma: the story is fictional; the product of months of planning. To think that we could find a person in real life that resembles the main character in the video seems very improbable.

However, there is always an exception, and in this instance he has a name, profession and location: Irving Adrián López Enríquez, second lieutenant in the security booth of Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico.

Nuevo Vallarta

Along with completing the duties of his post, Irving has a task that he was never assigned and that without fail, as if it were a ritual, he completes: waving to and wishing luck to each person who drives into the neighborhood.

At times when heading to work, our minds wander through a range of worrisome and unpleasant thoughts. The stresses of pending assignments, deadlines and difficult issues can make a sudden smile take us by surprise.

Irving tells us that his only objective is to be kind to people. In spite of all the issues he may be facing, as any normal person does, and despite the fact that he works a 24-hour shift, his attitude is always the same. Upon questioning him about his source of inspiration, he mentions an Argentinean friend, who gave him a simple recipe for happiness: confront all problems with a smile.

Nuevo Vallarta

His attitude invariably reminds us of the main character in the short film, whose objective, just like Irving, is to encourage us with a simple smile and help us remember that what really matters in life is being happy.

 
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