I believe that all of us have at least that one great asset that we are good at or known for. It could be a physical characteristic, a trade, or something in our personality.

For me, it’s always been my smile.

I never had the small waist, great hips, the big boobs or small, dainty feet. I’ve always sucked at math and algebra was a nightmare for me. My patience wears thin easily and I can be very moody. But my smile is one of those things that has always come through for me.

I remember back in grade school, I was a bit unhappy with my life and all of the things going on. My dad was M.I.A. and things were tough growing up. I don’t think I was smiling much back then. One day, one of the teachers at my school stopped me at the drinking fountain. Mrs. Cassidy said, “Bobbie, I don’t know why you aren’t smiling much lately, because you have such a beautiful smile.”

Here I am, probably around 1st or 2nd grade.

Then later that day, another teacher stopped me in the hall and said, “I just wanted to tell you that you have a very pretty smile.” I remember this so vividly because no one had ever told me I had a pretty smile – at least that I could remember – up until that point. I also remember distinctly that I thought, “Why are they telling me this? Is this some kind of joke?” Because it made me feel really good about myself when there wasn’t much to feel good about in my life at that point.

Growing up through the school years, my smile would emerge every so often. Around my junior year of high school I got braces. When they came off the following year, my teeth were so perfect I remember my mom’s boyfriend telling me, “Your teeth are so perfect that they look like dentures! But they’re beautiful!” I would smile any chance I could to show them off.

One of my senior pictures – the braces had just come off! LOL

I remember back when I was dating my future husband John that I could easily melt him with just one smile. I mean, the guy would just turn to mush. (Actually he still does.) I laugh thinking about it. He was putty in my hands. Ahhh… remembering summer love. Makes me think of all of those long nights we would spend on the beach watching the waves come in from Lake Michigan and the fun we had. I suppose that’s another story for another time. :)

One of my favorite pictures of John. This was near “our spot”
among the sand dunes. Wonderful memories of wonderful nights.

As the weight gain continued throughout my 20′s, I smiled less and less and something dimmed inside of me as the weight suffocated my smile. Even John would mention from time to time he really missed my smile. I mean, I would smile (kind of) but it just wasn’t the same.

Smiling after my third set of 50 plate twists with a 25# plate.
Who would have thought I’d be happy after that?

Watching my workout video from Wednesday, I couldn’t help but notice that my smile is SO FREAKING BACK it’s not even funny. Dean mentioned that he thought it was my best video yet – because I was smiling. It feels good to know that I’m smiling again and back on the road to happiness as the weight comes off.

What is your strongest asset? Have you found that it had been stifled due to your weight gain? Are you seeing it back again?

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