Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.
Thich Nhat Hanh
The physical act of smiling, even when we don’t feel it, changes the way we think and feel towards a more positive perspective. Can you believe it?
I remember a study that I read during my studies of psychology. Male test subjects had to evaluate a set of women shown to them on photographs. How high did they rate their beauty? While they made their ratings, one group had to hold a pencil with their lips pointing forward (which automatically made them frown), and the other one had to bite it with their teeth sideways (thereby “smiling”). Incredible but true: The group holding the pencil with their teeth gave higher ratings to the women than the one holding it with the lips. Smiling changed the way they perceived, and made them have a more positive outlook!
So with this in mind, today I want you to SMILE at people.
1. Start by smiling at yourself in the mirror. Try for at least 10 seconds and see how you feel. IF it doesn’t feel good or at least comfortable, repeat up to 10 times. Observe. Note how you feel, and how smiling affects your way of thinking and perceiving.
2. Then you are ready for the second part: In at least 5 situations or with 5 different people, choose to smile at someone. It can be the guy driving by, or someone on the train, or the sales person in a shop, your colleague, your kid, your friends…. Share the idea, maybe they want to join you!?
There does not have to be a reason for smiling. Just do it and observe what happens.
I am really curious, please share your experiences in the comment section or on my facebook page!
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I’ve been smiling to myself and to others, and I love how immediate I can sense a shift: When I smile to myself, I start thinking positive things, the ones that make me grateful or laugh, and that are going well. And when I smile at others, it is so nice to see that they smile back, and how it creates this moment of connection, a sense of complicity and understanding.