Smile: One Simple Way to Be Happy

Lisa Franchi November 13, 2013

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How many times, on a normal day, do you smile? If you are like most people, you only smile when you are feeling happy. Well that’s good and there’s nothing wrong with that. Smiling is an automatic response for positive emotions, and forcing yourself to smile when you don’t feel okay doesn’t seem right. But did you know that you can actually make use of smile to improve your mood and feel better? Research shows that even just the act of smiling releases serotonin, a neurotransmitter that produces feelings of happiness and well-being.

Well, that’s just the bonus. Smiling does have more, more benefits!

Smiling makes you more attractive (and younger too!)

Psychologists from the University of Louvain in Belgium asked a group of men and women about their impressions of a set of photographs showing people smiling. They found that smile makes people look more clever, attractive and young. When crows’ feet were present, the smile was judged to be more authentic, intense, spontaneous and more amusing. Another study carried out by Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin showed that people who looked at photos of happy faces guessed the age of the person in the photo as younger than in photos of the same person with a neutral or angry expression.

Smiling delivers happiness to others.

Have you been in a sour mood and then a friend came smiling wide or laughing and all of sudden you are already feeling great? A smile has special powers. It has the ability to spread and hook people into feeling good and genuinely happy. So the next time your loved one is feeling jittery, sad, anxious, or depressed – give them a smile and be amazed of how it’ll make them feel!

Smiling improves your relationship.

Because it makes you and other people feel good, smiling does have a huge benefit on your social relationships. A smile can win you a new friend, if not, a new suitor or partner! When someone smiles at you, it indicates that they like you. When you smile more often, people you don’t know will come to the impression that you are a positive person. Everybody likes to be with positive people.

Smiling wins you more clients.

Even the most complicated business deals can be made simply through smiling. If you want to get more customers, you really should smile more often. Well, who would you rather buy something from? Is it the sales representative who looks rude, bored and unwelcoming or the other one who smiles a lot and seems happy to serve you? Even if you’re just talking to a client over the phone, you must smile. That reflects on the tone of your voice.

Many people don’t smile due to negative circumstances in their life. Maybe you just had a breakup, lost a job, or have gone through a difficult experience. Maybe you are just feeling lonely and you don’t know why. If that’s the case, try to think of something positive. Visualise the happiest moments in your life. Research has shown that our thoughts and feelings influence our behaviour. You might be surprised to see yourself smiling. If this technique doesn’t work, just do it – smile! Fake it till you make it! As we mentioned earlier, just the mere ‘act’ of smiling can improve your mood and make you experience all these amazing benefits.