How to make smiling an automatic response?

How do make urself automatically smile when u make eye contact with someone? It just doesn’t come naturally to me. I want to be able to automatically smile when, for example, i walk by a stranger and we make eye contact. Id probably be more socially adept if i did that then whatever awkward gesture i make or worse look away. I always look away because im scared and i don’t even know why im scared. I want to smile more

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Whenever I look someone in the eyes I silently greet them in my head,"Hi, how are you?"
It’s hard not give a small smile when saying these words.

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That’s a good plan. Just smile. Some people react good to it, some don’t. But most people like it. I smile every time my eyes cross someone. It’s good.

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I avoid eye contact with ppl I don’t know. But if that happens I usually nod my head to say hello. Sometimes I smile. But most of the time I don’t.

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i always had that problem, it’s esier if i know that person, but with strangers im always flat, even if they are smiling to me, i just stare and it makes me feel bad about it, i want to smile, but it feels like something blocking it, can’t even fake it…

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It takes practice. Tell yourself to smile. The more you tell yourself, the more you’ll do it and the easier it will become. It’s pretty automatic for me now. :grin: Glad to see you on here, @Kazuma. Sounds like you’re having constructive thoughts :heart:

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Honestly, l worked in a bookstore. It was a job requirement to smile at everyone. It felt stiff and fake for a long time, but it eventually becomes natural.

I worked as a camp counselor, too, and one of the kids said about me, “You’re the worryingest person I know.” I wasn’t worried or unhappy, but I always looked that way. It takes practice.

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It may be painful at first smiling at people. They aren’t going to bite you just because you smile at them. The painful thing is thinking they have rejected you when they don’t return the smile. Open your heart to others. You’ll feel better for having smiled at someone.

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