It wasn' t until the next day as I was trying on clothes in a department store that I remembered again. Each thing I put on bulged， rippled and tucked in the wrong places. I turned sideways， thinking that perhaps from a different angle I' d look better. That' s when I realized how really poor my posture was. Suddenly I recalled the man in the supermarket. Standing straight helped him look wonderfully attractive and special. Could it help me look better in these clothes？
I lifted myself up and anxiously looked at the dress again. Unattractive bulges and tucks had smoothed themselves out， and the lines were nicer. I liked the dress！
"Dynamite！" said the clerk who was helping me.
"You like this？"
"Yes. It makes you look thinner too."
Sure enough， I looked five to seven pounds lighter. Dieting titles I' d read come to mind. such as "How to Lose Pounds in Weeks." Now I had a new title： "How to Look Thinner in Seconds."
Did I look younger， too， when I stood straight？ I had to admit I probably did. Now I had another new title： "How to Look Years Younger in Seconds. "And I began to notice that I didn' t have the backache I usually get on shopping trips. In the car on the way home， I was sure I felt better in other ways. For one thing， I was breathing all the way down to the bottom of my lungs for a change. And my insides were all properly aligned now instead of scrunching together. Then another title occurred to me： "How to Feel Better in Seconds."
But it still didn' t feel natural to stand up straight. Gravity and years of bad habit kept pulling me downward. Maybe that's why on the day of a party I had worried about， I lowered my head and slouched. I didn' t want to go. I wasn' t comfortable with that group， and I knew I' d say all the wrong things.
After dinner， as I reluctantly put off on my new dress， I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. "Stand up straight！" I ordered. I pretended strings were pulling me upward； I lifted myself to full height. And that' s how I walked into that party.