What A Difference A Smile Makes

No matter what country you’re from or what language you speak, everyone understands a smile.

 

Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People said of a smile, “It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive it, without impoverishing people who give it. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.”

 

Here are eight reasons why you should make smiling part of your daily routine:

 

1. You’ll live longer and be in better health. It’s a proven fact that optimistic people are healthier, have stronger immune systems, and live longer. Those with a positive attitude tend to take better care of them selves. They eat healthier, drink in moderation, and exercise regularly. When you smile it also boosts the level of serotonin, which plays a role in regulating mood, sleep, sexuality and appetite. It also releases endorphins which are the body’s natural pain killers.
2. It’s easier to smile than to frown. Someone once said that it takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. I’m not sure if the numbers are accurate, but you get the point – being miserable requires more work than being happy.
3. It makes you more attractive. There’s a reason everyone makes you smile before taking your picture. Everyone looks better with a smile on their face.
4. Smiling makes you look younger. Not only do you look better, you look younger. Forget the face lifts or Botox injections; just smile more often.
5. Smiling makes you seem more successful. People who smile are assumed to be more successful. If you’re always frowning, people automatically assume that things aren’t going that well for you.
6. People treat you differently. If you are smiling, people are more likely to start a conversation with you. People want to be around people who smile.
7. You’ll spend less time in jail. Studies have shown that judges give lighter sentences to people if they are smiling.
8. You’ll have a more satisfying relationship. Studies show that intense happiness is a key ingredient to maintaining a satisfying relationship.

 

There are four things you can start right now to put you on track to a happier life:

 

1. “Fake it till you make it.” Dale Carnegie said it about enthusiasm, but it applies to smiling too. Put a smile on your face and, even when things aren’t going so good, you can’t help but feel better.
2. Find the humor in situations. Who can forget the last scene of Monty Python’s “Life With Brian” when Brian, sentenced to death by crucifixion for his part in a kidnapping plot, joins in with 140 other doomed men and sings “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life?”
3. Smile at least five times a day for no good reason. Make smiling part of your daily schedule. Make a point to smile at yourself first thing every morning when you look in the mirror.
4. Sing a song that makes you smile or listen to a piece of music that makes you smile. There are certain songs or pieces of music that just make you smile. One of the more famous ones is “Put on a Happy Face” from the musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”

 

No matter where you are, if you are feeling less than stellar, you can’t help but feel better if you just smile. If you have to, fake it till you make it. Your brain doesn’t know you are faking it. Pretty soon your brain will be releasing serotonin and you will really be happy.

 

Smile! It is so much easier to be happy.