Smiling is contagious

When we smile it changes something inside of us. It sets off a chain reaction.
Try it!
Smile.
Did you feel it travel to your eyes?
Did you feel your mood lift as the smile travelled to your brain?
See, it’s contagious.

Now smile at someone else.
Did they smile back? Or, if they didn’t, did they acknowledge your smile in some way?
Did you feel the atmosphere change?
It’s like a virus I tell you….. it catches so quickly.

It is simply amazing how much power such a simple gesture holds. Smiling apparently stimulates the brain’s reward mechanisms. Smiling gives a more potent effect than eating chocolate or winning the lotto! And it’s without a doubt much healthier for us.
When we smile we exercise the muscles in our face as it creates creases around our mouths and eyes. I don’t know about you but I’m proud of my laughter and smile wrinkles!
Did you know that there is a difference between a real smile and a fake smile?
Apparently a real smile activates two muscles in the face – one around the mouth and the other around the eyes. When you smile using only the muscles around your mouth, it is often called a ‘social’ or ‘polite’ smile.
A real smile reaches your eyes. It makes them twinkle.
Scientists say that when someone smiles at us, we automatically mimic that smile and we can tell whether it is genuine or not.
I told you smiling was contagious!!
Isn’t it much better to mimic a genuine smile?
Did you know that people who smile genuinely and often, live longer?
Apparently their mental and physical health is much better as well.

“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” – Mother Teresa

Smiling benefits not only us as the ‘smiler’, we have no way of knowing just how much good is being spread when a smile is received by the ‘smilee’.
Many people have been encouraged to keep going by a simple smile given by another.
Sharing a smile lets others know that they are not alone.
Really, smiling is the greatest tool known to man.
More precious than gold.
Warmer than sunlight.
Treasured by all.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy”
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Many of you are ending your day right now however mine is just beginning and when I woke this morning and the fog cleared from my brain, I made a conscious effort to smile and greet the coming day.
My heart felt instantly lighter and the day looked infinitely brighter.

They say that laughter is the best medicine however laughter generally is a symptom of the ‘smiling virus’. Smiling is the culprit!
With a smile we can take over the world!!
Come join me as we begin a smiling revolution!