Why I sealed away 'smiling' during my active career

From high school until I was 35, I sealed away my 'smile'.
As a result, I became an unfriendly athlete who was a nightmare for reporters, but there is a reason for that.

(*Photo taken in 5th grade)

I enjoyed running until I was in junior high school, but my life changed completely after I entered Suma Joshi (now Suma Gakuen), a powerhouse school for ekiden relay races.

Three hours of commuting round-trip, strict training menus, and academics. I was just doing my best to get through it all. Even if you enter a strong high school, you aren't necessarily the strongest one there. So, I wanted to focus on training. I didn't want to waste energy on anything other than training.

After thinking about what I could cut...

I stopped 'smiling' (What the heck! That's too extreme! Are you just clumsy?)

Within the track and field club, I did communicate, so it wasn't like I never smiled at all; in fact, I would smile at people I trusted. But toward people in other clubs, I basically stuck to a cold, 'uh-huh' attitude. Usually, doing something like that might create an atmosphere where people think you're 'no fun,' but perhaps because it was a school in Kansai, the more aloof I acted, the more people around me tried to make me laugh.

'You're being cold again today~' (Please play this back in a Kansai dialect)

I kept being told things like that, but I stuck to my cold attitude to become stronger.

Even when I went to Ritsumeikan University, I remained unfriendly, and despite being unfriendly (?), I had to serve as captain at university, so I communicated with club members using only the bare minimum of words.

However, when I joined a corporate team and switched to marathons, the negative effects of 'not smiling' emerged. Since I was getting results in marathons, I was often interviewed by reporters, and the opportunities to convey things in my own words increased. As a result, because I didn't answer with a smile, I became an unfriendly athlete who was a nightmare for reporters.

Also, because that image from my active days was so strong, at the beginning of my second career, I started from a negative point where people thought, 'I don't want to hire her for work...' To wipe that away, I started by practicing smiling.

What I want to say here is not that you should be smiling or friendly from your active days. Many athletes are already able to do that, so this probably isn't even advice. But thinking about it now, I believe smiling is proof that you have room in your heart. I stopped smiling to become stronger, but I should have been smiling as it would have helped relieve stress.

So, what I especially want to tell active athletes here is something very obvious, but on your days off, you need to have a good balance, time to immerse yourself in what you love, and conversations with people you can laugh with. Especially since track and field is an individual sport, it's easy to become lonely. When I had long-term injuries, I read self-help books for emotional support, but I think it would have been better to just watch my favorite Yoshimoto Shinkigeki (comedy) instead (laughs).

After I retired, I realized the 'importance of facial muscles' and that 'laughter is not evil.' (A realization at 35 that's on the level of an elementary school student...)

Thank you for reading today! I would be happy if you could like, comment, or share this on Twitter.

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If you have any concerns about your second career, please feel free to ask. If there is anything I can do to help, I would like to answer in a note entry. Also, there are things I can talk about precisely because of my experience, so I would like to give interviews on the way of life of female athletes and give lectures on second careers at corporate teams and educational institutions. If you are interested, I would be happy if you could reach out to me.

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