Why I Smile So Much?
Just the other day a co-worker and I were having a conversation, during which I said, “just keep smiling and eventually what’s going wrong won’t seem so bad after all.” Now I didn’t mean for her to start walking around with this big ‘ol ‘Hey Kool-Aid!’ smile. I was just talking about changing her demeanor and disposition to one of a more pleasant nature, followed up with a sincere smile.
Well, a few days later another one of my co-workers observed that I always appear to be in a good mood, because, he noted “he’s always smiling.” Now that got me thinking, and when I think, I write. “Why do I smile so much?” I mean I have bills that are late (I mean overdue), a few problems (actually very few) on the job, family issues (who doesn’t), my truck breaks down from time to time and it’s not like I’m living up in the Hamptons or some type of utopia. Yet, I still smile.
I’ll give you two reasons. One is that scientifically smiling sends more blood to the brain, which stimulates more positive brain activity. This in turn improves your mood, which makes you feel better about yourself first; then your problems and issues seem to get smaller and smaller because you’re thinking about them less and less. The second is this if you always look mad, the world around you looks at you worse; if you’re always looking sad, they treat you like you’ve got a curse; But when others see you smile, it’s that much harder for them to treat you bad. You have what they don’t- the ability to make others feel glad.
Smiles are a lot like colds, highly contagious and infectious. Although there are some whose immune systems just will not let them catch a smile. Don’t you just hate people who never seem to catch a cold and are always bragging about it nonetheless? But when they do, they usually end up catching something like walking pneumonia or Spanish Influenza. Smiles are just like that, once a grumpy, grouchy always bitter person finally catches a smile it’s like they’ve found a pot of gold.
Have you smiled yet today? If not, ask yourself why? They’re healthy for you and highly contagious for those around you. If you don’t think so try smiling at least once a day for the next 30 days. I’ll bet somebody will ask, “why you smile so much?” too.
by michaellorenzo 01/29/04