The Benefits Of Being One Of The Shiny Happy People

10 Awesome Benefits Of Smiling More

Being More Attractive: People love people who smile. We’re drawn to happy people. Why wouldn’t we be? Don’t you tend to avoid people with scowls, frowns, and grimaces at work? Even out in public, those people who look disgusted, angry, or menacing aren’t smiling. They’re the ones we tend to avoid. Wherever you might go, a smile makes you more attractive to people around you, and can also set people at ease. It may be a forced smile, or seem fake, but try using one the next time you are confronted with someone who appears grumbly or overworked. Use a smiling picture in your online dating profiles and professional profiles. See how people respond.

Living Longer: One of the awesome benefits of the simple act of smiling more might be longevity. The happier people are, they seem to enjoy a longer life. Is it a result of their lifestyle? Do they maintain a happy mood and not let the world bother them? Consider how much happier you might be if you only worried about what you’re responsible for, and about what you can influence.

Lowering Stress Levels: As someone who left one of the most high-stress jobs a person can do, it’s easy to see the benefits of lower stress. Once you find your smile and are using it more often, it’s also easy to see how your health can improve. Even a fake smile on a bad day can make you feel less worn out, stressed, and miserable.

Mood Elevator: If you’ve never been in a bad mood and someone made you laugh, or smile, you’re unfortunate. Smiling can help you feel happy. The act of smiling does things in your brain that influence your emotional state of mind. So, you can “trick” your brain into a state of happiness.

Cheering Up Others: It’s easy to be alone when you’re down. It’s hard not to be one of the “shiny, happy people” when you’re in a room filled with smiling people. Smiling, like yawning is contagious. When you’re sitting in a room with someone and watching a comedy, watch how one person smiling or laughing turns into a group of people smiling or laughing.

Healthier Living: People who are stressed, or aren’t dealing well with stress, tend to smile less than the rest of the world. Have you ever been through massive amounts of stress? Did you notice you didn’t sleep as well, didn’t eat as well, and forgot to tend to self-care? These all affect your immune system and overall health and wellness. Choosing to smile more may help keep you relaxed and help your immune system.

Decrease Blood Pressure: If staying more relaxed can help your immune system, and smiling can play a part in that, how do you imagine your blood pressure is affected by stress or unhappiness? The happiest people don’t seem to be the ones on as many blood pressure medicines, and they are often healthier than the herd.

Successful People Are Always Smiling: Look through pictures of your favorite people. Think about those successful people you know and admire. They’re always smiling! Smiling suggests something to the world, that everything is good, and is something you can share with the world around you. Even Donald Trump still smiles, and he’s facing a mountain of problems that would put a frown on the Ronald McDonald clown.

Smiling And Staying Positive About Life: It’s suggested that smiling influences how you feel. That’s because a smile suggests to people around you that life is good. Smiling also displays positivity, something that people struggle with in today's world, perhaps more than ever before.

Can Smiling Reduce Pain: Some studies indicate smiling releases endorphins, natural painkillers, and serotonin. If true, that’s the happy hormone combination. Smiling may be a natural drug.

Takeaways

How can you not want to attain the benefits of the simple act of smiling more? It takes a little effort, but the potential benefits make sense. If you look at how people are attracted to others, the smile is an open and inviting facial expression. It shows positivity and confidence, even if it’s an imperfect smile.

You want to display that you’re doing alright, or happy where things are going. Success can be measured that way. Successful people are attracted to other successful people, and that’s a way to boost yourself, by surrounding yourself with uplifting and positive people.

Look at the stress levels you encounter and your reactions. Then, look at those that deal with stress and are still smiling and happy. Many of them are always smiling. Finding a way to smile in the face of stressful situations may calm people. Sure, there are times when nobody is smiling. But if you can smile when the house of cards life is built upon seems to be falling, you’re capable of putting things together and getting through the stressful time. Put on a fake smile if you have to, and learn from the others that those situations don’t seem to phase.

Do I believe any of this is true? Yes.

As a booking officer working at a Sheriff’s Department, I would have to go from one encounter to another, often with violent and out-of-control people. Bouncing from dealing with the worst to dealing with the not-so-bad, I learned to make sure I kept a smile on my face with each person.

If you can get into a violent encounter with a combative person, then hold a smile with another person who watched, you can control your emotional state enough to deescalate the mood in a room. That same technique applies in conference room meetings, meetings with vendors, meeting new people, or meeting clients in my current professional role.

Is it always easy? No, because I have bad days like anybody. But, I learned one vital skill a long time ago. How to fake it til you make it. Fake that smile until you make yourself feel happier. It does work.

The Holiday Season is here. Many will utter a “Bah, humbug,” when thinking about Christmas and the hustle and bustle of the season. When you see people who have that “blah” look, try to smile when you are dealing with them. Smile at strangers as you make those inadvertent eye contacts. Be disarming, and share the gift of positivity. I dare you not to feel happier after you do.