Smile Power Day

Happy Smile Power Day

History of Smile Power Day

June 15th is the day we observe National Smile Power Day.  This is a day for everyone to share the power of the smile.

From the good morning greeting and the first “How may I help you?” present yourself with a smile.  No matter where you are employed, job seeking, retired or looking for new horizons starting the day with a smile is certainly more empowering than a pout or grump.  Starting with a smile first is easier than trying to get there later in the day.

When you smile at someone, you are telling them that they are valued and worth the smile that you just gave them.  Smiles are morale boosters and confidence builders.

Research has proven that smiling really does increase attractiveness and likability between humans.  Smiling creates greater trust and increased interpersonal cooperation.  Smiling at someone can help them to relax and relieve their stress while at the same time, it will make you feel right.  Smiling (even if you do not feel like it) will lift your mood and can make you a  happier person.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Challenge yourself to smile more often today.  Use a smile to disarm a tense situation, or simply smile during your daily tasks.

Smile Power Day is the perfect excuse to shine your pearly whites and show off those dimples. And no, a smiley face or an emoticon won’t do! Not today, at least. The smile is a symbol of happiness and vitality, a beacon of hope and an expression of emotion. So just for today, drop the texts and flash them a real smile. Nobody knows who came up with the idea of dedicating a whole 24 hours to the involuntary contraction of the zygomatic major muscle, but one thing is certain: we’re the only creatures on the planet that can do it. Whether fate smiled upon you or not, you can always find a good reason to smile. So grin from ear to ear, look on the bright side and smile your troubles away, just like the great Dr. Seuss suggested: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Smile Power Day is meant to be shared with loved ones. You can take them all out to a stand-up show, put together an organized smile-off, eat smiley-glazed cupcakes, drink some Smile Cocktails, and paint smileys everywhere because everyone and his brother loves them. Most importantly, when you crack a smile today, remember that it’s not Smile Power Day unless you can put a smile on someone else’s face, too.

Two Smiley Faces for This Research

Smiling can make you look younger. Even if there were no other benefits to smiling, I’m sure many of us would be grateful just for this one. The UMKC researchers tested the popular theory that smiling might cause others to perceive you as being younger than you actually are. Sure enough, in a small study, college students perceived older people who had happy smiles on their faces as looking younger than their age. The people with frowns on their faces were categorized as looking older.

Here’s my theory about this  A smile provides you with a mini-facelift. Turning up the corners of your mouth raises your entire face, including cheeks, jowls, and neck. Try it now! Instead of spending $15,000 or more on a facelift, just smile.

Smiling can make you look thinner. In a recent study by a young psychology student at UMKC, sad faces randomized and flashed on a computer screen were judged to be heftier. This is a surprising conclusion; I can only speculate that a mouth turned down in a frown might give the impression that a person is weighed down by unhappiness. In any event, I sense a bestseller here  The Smile Diet.

More Research to Grin About

Here are seven more reasons to smile that I gleaned from past research Smiling elevates your mood and creates a sense of well-being. As a behavioral psychologist, Sarah Stevenson writes in this blog, “Each time you smile you throw a little feel-good party in your brain.” The notorious party animals dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin start whooping it up when you smile. And a bonus: those endorphins serve as natural pain relievers and act as the body’s own opiates.

Smiling induces more pleasure in the brain more than chocolate. I know you don’t believe this. I don’t believe it either. But according to Ron Gutman, the author of Smile The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act, “British researchers found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.” Where do I sign up for the next experiment? And what happened to the person who ate 2,000 bars of chocolate? I’d like to interview him.

Even a forced smile can lead to a mood boost. Usually, we think that a positive experience is what makes us smile. While this is true, it’s also true that merely deciding to smile can provide a positive experience. As Buddhist author Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” Even research subjects directed to place a pencil between their teeth, forcing their lips into a smile, actually feel better. Odd, but true.

So if you’re feeling down in the dumps, smiling will give you a boost if you can get your moody self to smile. Remember that changing your behavior by smiling can change your inner feelings. In other words, if you “Put On a Happy Face,” you will actually feel happier.

Smiles can predict fulfillment in marriage. In a study cited by Gutman, the Smile author, the smiles of students were measured, and these ultimately predicted how long-lasting and satisfying the person’s marriage would be. Right! Who wants to live with a grouch?

Smiling makes you seem courteous, likable, and competent. Those first two qualities seem logical, but smiling makes you seem competent? Speculation: If you look sad or anxious, perhaps others wonder if you know what you are doing. So perhaps a simple smile might be a shortcut to business success.

The span of a person’s smile can predict life span. A 2010 Wayne State University research project studied pre-1950s major league player baseball cards. According to Gutman, “The researchers found that the span of a player’s smile could actually predict the span of his life. Players who didn’t smile in their pictures lived an average of only 72.9 years, where players with beaming smiles lived an average of almost 80 years.” Is a smile worth seven years extra years of life to you?

Smiling is contagious. As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, smiling is contagious. It’s not just celebrities, but YOU who can light up a room if you enter smiling. If you like to help others and lift the spirits of everyone you see, just smile.

The Shadow of Your Smile

Even though smiling is good for your health, your relationships and your appearance be aware of these six things:

Trying to avoid negative emotions just to appear youthful or thin or even eternally positive can eventually have a psychological cost. Know yourself and be aware of what each of your emotions might be telling you. Then decide whether to put on a happy face or not.

Other people can detect a fake smile, as opposed to a genuine “Duchenne smile,” named for the neurologist who identified these two smile types. So if you decide to smile to help yourself feel better, try to make it real for yourself—it will also come across as real to others. Find your inner reservoir of happiness and gratitude, and drink from it.

A smirky smile when you’ve beaten others in a contest will not help you win friends and influence people, according to the research described here. Or, as your mom may have said, “Wipe that smile off your face!”

Some smiles are associated with discomfort or uncertainty about what to do in a difficult situation. For example, the women who are sexually harassed, however mildly, may feel they have to “grin and bear it” in a work situation. Their fake and fearful smiles undoubtedly do not produce the feel-good chemicals that accompany an authentic smile.

In some parts of the world, such as the former Soviet Union, smiling can be judged as suspicious, shallow, naive, or a sign of dishonesty. Many find truth in the line of the joke that says, “If you are smiling, you simply don’t understand the situation.” Smiling can come across as submissive in certain situations.

One thing I realized from reading through the smile research is that your dentist may indeed be your best friend. Improving your smile can be a beneficial investment. In any event, numerous studies show that making the most of your smile can be good for you, and for those around you.

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