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Barrington H. Brennen |
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Mother
Teresa once said: “We shall never know all the good that
a simple smile can do.” Today (December 11, 2014) is
“Smiling Thursday” which is sponsored by Sounds of
Encouragement Association (SOE), an organization helping
people smile again. This article is the second in the
series during the month of December dubbed by SOE as
“Social Transformation Month.” Last Thursday was
“Kindness Thursday.” During the month of December we
are inviting every resident of The Bahamas, Black and
White, foreigner and Bahamian to engage in social
transformation by doing simple acts that SOE believes
can change our country for the better. Next week,
December 18 will be “Friendship Thursday.” December 25
will be “Giving Thursday.” Then finally, January 1 will
be “New Relationship Thursday.”
Many
people underestimate the power and the effect of a
genuine smile. A smile works miracles for the one who
is smiling and for the one looking at the smile. A
smile can change the atmosphere, reduce tension, and
even prevent chaos. Smiling people tend to live long.
People whose faces are always cold and rigid are doing
so because their hearts are defragmented with stress,
hatred, resentment, and animosity. If we can get more
people to smile today and always, our country would be
different. The violence and hatred would diminish. So
let’s start smiling the crime away.
I want
to give a word of caution here. I do not want us to
judge everyone as mean and angry because their faces are
always serious, almost like a frown. For some people,
their faces do not always demonstrate their true
hearts. So be careful not to throw every stern face in
to the trash bag. However, research tells us that all of
us need to smile more. You really want to avoid having
a permanent grouchy expression on your face. Even those
people whose faces seem to constantly be grouchy for no
negative reason have to learn that the message their
faces is giving is not positive and may negatively
affect their hearts. People with grouchy faces tend not
to have or keep friends. Many of them try to do or
think of something to bring a smile to their faces.
Some “permanent frowning” faces may be the result of a
physical facial design that leaves a fixed frown on
one’s face. When these people with fixed-frowning faces
realize their dilemma, they make and effort to smile.
It is hard work but it always pays off. You see,
smiling does make a difference. Although we do not
want to judge all frowning to be the results of a
negative heart, we must understand that frowning itself
is negative. So I want to encourage those “straight
face”
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Photo courtesy of Denise Brathwait |
people to start letting their happy hearts show on
their faces. Why? An unknown author put it this way:
“Smiling can make you happier and conversely frowning
can make you sadder. We often think of how it works the
opposite way – I’m happy therefore I’m smiling; but
research has shown that your facial expressions can
influence your feelings”
REASONS TO SMILE
Here
are a few reasons Jennipher Walters, a Health and
Fitness Writer, gives smiling is so important to
everyone. I thought to share them with you with very
little adjustments.
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“Smiling
can make you happy (even when you're not).
Remember that mind-body connection we were just
talking about? Well, it turns out that the simple
act of smiling sends a message to your brain that
you're happy. And when you're happy, your body pumps
out all kinds of feel-good endorphins.”
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This one is really important. “Smiling can make
others happy. When you're smilin', the whole
world smiles with you." Ever heard that song made
famous by Louis Armstrong? Well, it's true. Research
shows that smiling is contagious. Ever been around
someone who just had something fantastic happen to
him or her? Isn't it almost impossible not to feel
good, too? Studies show that something as simple as
seeing a friend smile can activate the muscles in
your face to make that same expression, without you
even being aware that you are doing it. Crazy,
right?” I hope you believe it. Smiling can make a
difference. Walters continues: “But remember that
this, too, can be for better or for worse. You know
the expression "misery loves company"? Frowns act
just like smiles, just with a negative reaction, so
choose to smile and watch the world smile back!”
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“Smiling
makes you more attractive. Ever wonder why are
we always asked to smile in photos? Because people
usually look their best—and happiest—when smiling.
According to the American Academy of Cosmetic
Dentistry, 96 percent of American adults believe an
attractive smile makes a person more appealing to
members of the opposite sex. So the next time you
are about to ask someone on a date, smile. It'll
make her feel happier, and you'll already be more
attractive in her eyes!
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The writer shares about the impact of smiling on
stress. She says “Smiling can help you de-stress.
. . .The next time you're stressed about work or
realize that your favorite jeans feel a little snug,
don't freak out. Take a few deep breaths and smile!
Smiling may help to reduce symptoms associated with
anxiety. When that smile signals to your brain that
you're feeling happy (even though you're not really
feeling happy...yet), your body will usually slow
its breathing and heart rate.” Here are health
benefits of smiling. The writer points out that
“Reducing stress is so important for health, too, as
it can lower blood pressure, improve digestion and
regulate blood sugar. Note that this works during
workouts, too! If you're having a hard time getting
through that last rep or getting those final 5
minutes in on the treadmill, smiling can do
wonders!”
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"If
we can get more people to smile
today and always, our country
would be different. The
violence and hatred would
diminish. So let’s start
smiling the crime away."
Barrington Brennen
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Smiling can help you land a job. Some
people never think that smiling can do this one.
“If you're about to go on a job interview, you may
think that your appearance is just about wearing
nice clothes. Wrong! You can't just wear that suit;
you have to wear it with a smile. In a study
published in the December 2009 issue of Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, people looked at
full-body photographs of 123 people they had never
met. The people in the photos had one of two
expressions: neutral (think your passport photo) or
a smile. And guess what? When observers saw the
photos of smiling people, they were more likely to
think that the person in the photo was likeable,
confident, conscientious and stable. Sound like
traits most companies want in an employee, right? So
the next time you're dressing to impress, make sure
to take that beautiful, natural smile with you!”
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Smiling just feels good. “Have you ever
found that smiling just feels good? Go ahead, smile
now. Doesn't it feel natural? Make you feel happy to
be alive? It sure does beat the heck out of a
frown.”
Dr.
David Song of the University of Chicago Medical Center
in A research writes that “In studies, it has been
demonstrated that people who produced facial expressions
of anger, sadness, fear or disgust produced the same
physical reactions that the actual emotions would have
provoked (e.g., elevated skin temperature, sweating and
increased heart rate.). Similarly, in studies of people
who were told to smile reported feeling happier than the
control group who didn’t. What is surprising is that
even though the test subjects knew they were acting,
their bodies didn’t, and so responded accordingly.”
Let us
change our country today by smiling. Believe it our
not, it can work.
Barrington H. Brennen is
the co founder and president of Sounds of Encouragement.
He
is a marriage and family therapist and board certified
clinical psychotherapist, USA. Send your questions or
comments to barringtonbrennen@gmail.com or
write to P.O. Box CB-13019, Nassau, The Bahamas, or
visit www.soencouragement.org or
call 242-327-1980 or 242-477-4002
