SMILING ADDS YEARS TO YOUR LIFE
By Judith Parker Harris | March 29, 2010
Block: Feeling low.
Buster: Smile!
“People who smile a lot are usually happier, have more stable personalities, more stable marriages, better cognitive skills and better interpersonal skills,” according to research recently conducted at Wayne State University, reports LA Times Reporter, Shari Roan. They also live from 1 to 5 years longer dependent on the size and sincerity of their smiles.
I find this to be extremely wonderful news as I sport a big wide smile across my face the majority of the time. My smile has Julia Roberts wattage and Mary Tyler Moore (Mary Richards character) sincerity. Remember the show theme song? “She could turn the world on with her smile. She could take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.”
Only once in my life has my smile worked against me. I was running for Student Body Vice President in High School and the night before the election my opponent, plastered this note across all of my posters. “How can anyone who smiles all the time be trusted?” I was devastated, because I temporarily bought into his attack on my self-confidence.
Now years later, I put on my smile each day with as much thought and gratitude as I put into selecting my clothes for the day and doing my hair. It’s all part of putting the “me” together who’s ready to face the world as a contributing member of the population.
Think about it – a smile can say so many things:
“Thank you for sharing.”
“I’d love to spend more time with you, but I have to wash my hair.”
I love you even though I don’t agree with everything you say.”
“Isn’t it nice that we share this planet and can each contribute our own thoughts and deeds?”
“You may never know exactly what I’m thinking, but my heart reaches out to you anyway.”
“Let’s meet somewhere in the middle.”
“I love you. I don’t like some of what I hear, but I’m willing to listen.”
Let’s stay on that last thought for a moment. I have blogged a lot about what I call the United States of Anger. I’m so ready for all the shouting, insulting, fear-mongering hate speech to end. So my answer to hate speech today is this – DO NOT believe all that you hear and DO NOT say all that you think. That’s where the smile comes in. I delete hateful emails, fast forward through hateful news stories, and I try to stop speaking before mindlessly voicing some of the “hateful” comments that live inside of me.
We all have them. They are comments that are born from fear and from the imprints of all the experiences of our years and from all the lessons left behind on our psyches, both good and bad, from our teachers, preachers, pundits and peers.
Just imagine a world where we all live more in our hearts and less in our heads. Suddenly the noise level is not so deafening and the healing level is a force to be embraced. It takes time to sift through the garbage of our back stories to get to our truth, and while we’re thinking (silently) we might as well smile.
Topics: Blogs | No Comments »