“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Even if my day is not going exactly as well as I’d wish, even if I am out of my comfort zone, I make a point of checking in and keeping a smile on my face as bright as I can make it. Why? Because I know the magic effects of smiling!
You’ll see me in on the freeway in the middle of a gridlock, grinning widely. Or walking in the street beaming kindly to strangers. I make a point of it, I practice it, I apply it. Like any other behavior that I desire to show by default in my daily life, I knew it would need my awareness and my focus, as well as a diligent use in many situations before it would become a natural thing.
Research shows that the simple fact of smiling has many positive effects, the main of them being a release of endorphins, a relaxing effect, a social booster and a strengthening of the immune system.
These are already reasons enough to keep smiling. Simply experience the feeling that arises in oneself when actually smiling for no reason and I guarantee you that you will want more of it…
But there is a great reward to be had as well, a rather magic effect. Ordinarily we tend to react to the outer world, ignorant of the fact that we can, from the inside out, influence our reality. But if we increase our awareness of the relationship between our inner climate and our circumstances, we discover that we can attract, manifest, or at the very least influence what is happening in our life. Smiling, when practiced as a mental attitude, can change your life.
It might feel fake at first, and one might feel like a fraud, going around grinning while CNN wants us to feel awful. But after a while, the outer smile becomes an inner one. Our mind relaxes and stretches, more at ease, more joyful. Smiling for no reason but the spirit of it, will radically change your life, and your approach to Life. Don’t wait for something that will make you smile, start now. Smile your way through the day. Even if you are alone, even if it feels silly. Keep smiling.
You’ll be amazed: it is truly magical…
More later…
