I’m mainly a private person (yes even with a blog). I normally don’t care to divulge excessive personal information to others I’ve just met or in the professional realm. I commend how some have the guts to be much more black and white. They can tell it like it is and not care or fear how their views may be received. I find myself quite often passing off fake smiles just to get through my work day. 

Why do I find myself doing that? Is it the fear of not wanting to rock the boat and diminish my chances of succeeding well within the corporate structure? Possibly. Success comes from playing the corporate game well. And there is the expectance of always-on-positivity. But in all honesty, it boils down to one of the following:

Lack of interest

Be it a topic, a task or a point of view. The honest truth is sometimes I just don’t care. I really don’t. Not everyone has the same level of interest or need to voluntarily point out their views publicly. I believe it’s unrealistic for everyone to have an opinion or care about every topic that comes their way. Not only that our brains are processing so many stimuli per second, but our lives are so busy with thought to much more important things (ie: a pandemic), there is bound to be collateral. 

Disagreement

Ties in neatly with the first one. You know when someone presents something so far off base that you feel a strong sense of disagreement only that it’s futile to express that as you know you cannot convince them otherwise? Guess what? Any feeling of anger or scorn melts away only to be replaced by a fake smile. 

Coping mechanism

Wow, another meeting. Shocker. Fake smile and nod at the camera. 

Sometimes I just don’t feel great. Or I just want to get on with my day. Is that too tall of an order? Mind you I do not have the patience of a saint, many will attest to that. Being forced to contribute or compulsorily attend voluntary meetings are not my past times. 

I may have mentioned before that there is no shame in work not being your life. I work to live, not live to work and so should you. Work is a means to fund your life. Provided you do the work to the standards, is that so wrong?  This isn’t my forever career. I’m not expecting to be chummy or make wise cracks with every person I interact with. If it’s an organic manifestation then sure. But it’s easy to spot disingenuous connects under the guise of fostering workplace culture. 

So I get through the day doing what I’m required. Less interactions means less questions resulting in less involvement which is perfect for my ever thinning patience levels. 

Coping with fake smiles is like being a palm tree. As in, go with the flow. Sometimes it’s just easier to deal with people on that level of superficial.