Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Author: © 2017

One of the best ways to overcome issues in your life is to keep smiling. When we lose our smile, everything looks bleak. But just as someone smiling at you can lift your spirits, or make you feel welcome, your smile given to someone who is experiencing difficulties can be more meaningful than you realize.

So no matter what hardship you are facing don’t lose your smile. Research has shown that smiles can be heard. When a person who is speaking on the phone is smiling, the person listening can actually sense it.

Many telemarketing companies require that their telemarketers speak to their mirrored reflection so they can see their facial expressions. If they are not smiling, they can see themselves in the mirror as a reminder to smile as they speak.

Reasons Why Smiling Is Better Than Frowning
– It takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown. “It takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown.” Author Unknown

– Smiling will relieve stress whereas frowning can actually increase stress. “It takes a lot of work from the face to let out a smile, but just think what good smiling can bring to the most important muscle of the body… the heart.” Author Unknown

– People are attracted to those who smile. When was the last time you wanted to meet a person who was frowning? “Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?” George Eliot

– Smile and your eyes lighten up. Frown and your eyes darken. “Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.” Janet Lane

– The cost of a grin is zero. “A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks.” Charles Gordy

A Signal?
When you smile, you are certainly transmitting a special signal to those who are in receipt and to others who observe your smile.

This was a signal that I used quite often in various work that I did over the years and have even tested the theory that a smile is a more welcoming sign for people to approach than if you do not smile.

A Story
I always remember a certain staff member who sat at the front of our reception area.

She was a bright and cheerful person who always greeted everyone with a smile and a very enthusiastic hello.

It was not unusual to have feedback reach me because of her attitude and winning ways. The most feedback I got was about the fact that her smile was comforting and inviting at the same time.

You see, I was working in an employee assistance environment that could easily be full of tension and concern from those who entered not knowing what to expect.

A Smile Says
A smile says a thousand things all at once. A smile says I am open to talk, to listen, and to greet warmly.

A smile is the best feature that anyone can have and to develop a winning smile will make you happy as well as everyone around you.

What About Laughter
Now, let us expand on that smile and talk for a minute about laughter that is a consequence of a smile.

Laughter is an enjoyable break from all those stressors that are encountered each day.

Humor is a great stress reduction agent that is for the most part unrecognized by most who speak about stress reducing techniques or practices.

Sure, there are other things like walking, exercise and listening to calming music but laughter is readily available when you want it.

You do not have to wait until you get home or go to the gym to laugh. When you need to deflate a tense moment or to reshape your thinking about an issue or task, a great big belly laugh is just what is called for.

The Legacy Of A Smile
Have you ever thought about what kind of legacy you will leave when you die? For some, there is a lot more thought about variations of wealth left to those who remain. For others, their legacy is even greater and you can join them. How do you do this?

We have been talking about the power of a smile ; it is an extension of peace, happiness and good-will towards others. But, the power of a smile, a warm greeting goes way beyond the moment in which it is given. A smile given to a person may be the only warm greeting they have had all day.

Or, it may be the only time they have had the joy of receiving a smile for many weeks or even months. There are tons of people who go through life alone, without any kind of warmth being extended or given to them. For these types of people, there is a special significance to be on the receiving end of a warm and embracing smile. It means, to them, that they are not only recognized as a human being but also recognize that they are being seen as worthy.

If you live in a city either small or big, you know that there are probably people who either beg for help on s street corner or there are those who simply live on the street often scrounging through garbage pails and dumpsters to find a scrap of food or discarded clothing. Have you ever passed by a street beggar? Have you ever given them any money? Maybe you have. But, did you give it to them grudgingly or with a warm heart? And, if you did give them money, what else did you give them?

Did you give them a smile, a greeting? It easy to simply drops a few coins in a beggar’s cup but, for a lot of people, it’s much harder for them to say hello or offer a smile. Have you ever thought that your warm smile and greeting may be the only recognition of worth as a person that they have received the entire day or days or weeks?

So, what is the legacy you will leave? Will you be remembered as the person who keeps smiling even when faced with issues.

Or, itcould be a legacy of caring, of warmth, of showing worth to each you meet regardless of their status and regardless of whether you think they deserve it or not. How do you know who to be warm and gracious to if you feel a need to evaluate a person beforehand?

However, when you approach, greet or engage each person as a person of worth there is no need for evaluation or judgement. And, what is even more important is that you are extending a caring attitude and an acceptance of others no matter what they have or don’t have, how they dress, or how they act.

The legacy you are leaving may show up many years down the road when that one person who you gave your warmth and acceptance to demonstrated the same behavior to someone else. And, that someone else may also extend that warmth to someone else and so on.

The Strength and Power Of One
If you feel that you do not have any power to make positive changes in this world, I’d have to disagree with you. To change something means that you have to take an active role and not sit back and expect that someone more influential will do it. It means, instead, that you understand that for each action you take there is an affect.

To influence doesn’t mean that you have to be the leader of a country or a major and noteworthy politician or celebrity. You understand that each person is a catalyst for positive change even if that positive effort is directed only to one other person.

It means that you realize that your attitude and behaviour is reflected outward to every person you meet. It means that for each person you affect, there is also another affect when that person influences another person. We all have influence. It really is how you use that power that makes a legacy of love and compassion or a legacy of hurt and pain.

To summarize, keep smiling and share those smiles who everyone you meet!

Inspirational Quotes to Consider:

“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”Phyllis Diller

A smile is cheer to you and me
The cost is nothing – it’s given free
Author Unknown, Smile Poem

“Get out of bed forcing a smile. You may not smile because you are cheerful; but if you will force yourself to smile you’ll . . . be cheerful because you smile.”Kenneth Goode

“Cause your facial expression to change – smile.” Catherine Pulsifer

“There’s so much living to be squeeze into the cracks of one little day. You can make someone laugh, smile, hope, sing, think.” Regina Brett, God Never Blinks 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours

“So, if you feel a smile begin, don’t leave it undetected, let’s start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!” Russel H. Conwell

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