It’s Only A Smile
Do you ever just have one of those days when you’re just feeling grumpy? There doesn’t seem to be a reason for it. You just feel grumpy. It’s a case of ‘getting up on the wrong side of the bed’. The problem is being grumpy really isn’t any good for us. Both emotionally and physically. And that’s why we need something that can help to change how we feel. Like smiling.
I know when I’ve got a case of the grumps, the last thing I feel like doing is smiling. It’s so unnatural to try and smile when inside you can feel a rage bubbling. The thing is, when someone smiles at you, you can’t help but smile back.
Which is exactly what happened the other week.
I was at the hospital, doing my volunteering shift as usual. I was helping with some administration, which meant dealing with lots of people. I wasn’t necessarily in the right place emotionally but actually it was the best medicine for me. No pun intended.
Seeing a sea of smiling faces walking towards me was awesome. It distracted me from my ‘bubble of grumpiness’. It was great. And that got me thinking. I know smiling is good for me. But what is in a smile? Why is it good to smile?
1. Smiling relieves stress
It’s easy to feel stressed nowadays. I just have to put on the news and I feel instantly stressed. But seeing my children’s smiley faces always changes that. Even if I’m having a bad day, they can turn it around in an instant by making me smile.
2. Smiling elevates your mood
Did you know that smiling can release the body’s natural chemicals like dopamine and serotonin? They are responsible for making us feel happy.
3. Smiling is contagious
Even when I’m at my grumpiest, I can’t help but smile when someone smiles at me. Even better than that, is when I hear my children giggle. Oh my goodness. I have no chance. I can feel the smile forming on my face.
4. Smiling boosts your immune system and lowers your blood pressure
Apparently, this has something to do with you being relaxed which is because of the happy chemicals that your body is releasing. Does that mean grumpy people are generally iller?
5. Smiling helps your body to release its own natural painkillers
When we smile and laugh, the body releases endorphins which are the body’s natural pain killers.
So that’s got me thinking. Even if I don’t always feel like smiling I can do things that might make someone else smile. After all, you don’t know when someone is having a bad day. I don’t mean force myself upon other people when I see them. That would be just weird. But every day actions that cost nothing and have an impact. After all, ‘you’re never fully dressed without a smile’. So my challenge to you is to try and do one of the following every day.
1. Smile
2. Pay someone a genuine complement
3. Say thank you
4. Tell a joke even if it’s not that good
5. Cook a nice meal for someone
6. Send a handwritten note
7. Be supportive
8. Listen
That’s ‘It’s Only a Smile’ according to Mummy on a Break.
Will you take up my challenge?
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