Most vacation photos are fake. 

I don’t mean they are photoshopped. I mean, the people are told to stand together, and then everyone is to force a smile for the camera. It doesn’t matter how hot it is or how tired you are at the time; everyone needs to smile. Sometimes people will get angry at one another while taking the picture. 

Why here? Why now? Why did we have to stop enjoying the moment to take this picture? I was smiling, and now I am frustrated that we had to take a picture. 

Then, everyone smiles and says “cheese,” hoping we get a good picture in one take. 

We do this because we want to remember the happiness we experienced on this vacation. We don’t want to look back and remember anger and frustration. The smile in the photo will endure, and everyone will know how much we loved our time visiting wherever. 

Life is not just about what we experience but also how we remember it. Sometimes you have to manufacture a smile to make a memory better.

The same is true when you are dealing with people. A smile will always make the experience better and more memorable, even when manufactured.