Smile!

“Smile and the whole world smiles with you,” goes the old song.?I once read that it takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. At my age, I’m trying to conserve as much energy as I can, so I smile a lot more than I used to.?The truth is that through experience I’ve found a lot more to smile about.

Smiling is such a small thing that has HUGE payoffs!?Think about it!?Unless you’ve just really chosen to have a bad day and want everyone else you see to join you, whenever someone smiles at you, you invariably smile back.?And that mutual relationship permeates the next few moments if not the rest of the day.?Do we influence others??I think you’ll agree the answer is yes.?How do we influence others??That’s a more profound question, but in truth it requires a very simple answer.?The most impactful way we influence others, and ourselves, is through our attitude.?The most powerful way we express a positive attitude is by smiling!?And it only takes 17 muscles!?

I don’t know a lot about biology, but I do know that smiling releases endorphins that make us feel better.?Those endorphins empower us with a more positive attitude.?It’s a circle, in effect.?A sincere smile is the manifestation of a positive attitude.?The smile releases endorphins that produce a positive attitude which is manifested in a smile….?See what I mean?

In my culture, we believe that life is best illustrated by a circle.?You may remember the adage,?“What goes around, comes around.”?Our attitudes and the way we choose to express those attitudes come out of us and come around to us.?

I’ve done a lot of observation in the past few years.?I’ve purposely watched millions and millions of people interact, I was stationed in California for a few years and “hung out” at many a mall (two daughters and a lovely bride, you see).?In all my studies I’ve NEVER found a bad smile.?Every smile I’ve ever seen was a GREAT one!?Some affected squinting eyes, some were tooth-deficient, and some created wonderful facial landscapes.?Each was unique and inspiring!

Try this!?Look over at someone, even if they’re a stranger, and smile.?….?What did you get in return??I guess I should have included a retraction stating that this experiment may not work with someone who has decided to have a bad hair day.?An interesting thing about bad days, most times they don’t start out that way.?Things happen.?Do you wake up first thing in the morning thinking, “Hmmm….?What can I really screw up today?”?I doubt it.?But things happen that we allow to affect our attitudes and before you know it you may get sucked into the pits.

INSIGHT: This small thing, smiling, is not always easy.?The more you do it, however, like anything other habit, the better you’ll get at it.?And the more that circle grows, the more your influence will grow. ?Smile and the whole world WILL smile with you!

Make this a GREAT day!?Smile!

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