Put A Smile On Your Dial

One of the easiest, and even one of the most powerful, actions that we can do every day, is to smile. Sounds a bit silly doesn't it, and it's not surprising to think in such a way, because most of us don't really comprehend exactly how a smile can be of any great benefit to either ourselves or others? Sadly, everyday life consumes so many of us, as we plunge ourselves into constantly dealing with a great amount of stress, worry, concern, and anxiety, in a bid to meet our obligations, deadlines, and commitments. With all this pressure swirling through our mind, we often find it difficult to feel a sense of happiness and joy within our heart. All this stress, worry, anxiety, and concern that life seems to heave upon us, begins to develop a dour feeling of unhappiness within us, and even leads many of us into depression. We may experience bursts of satisfaction, happiness, and enjoyment when we are spending time with our friends, enjoying quality time with our family on the weekend, or engaging in one of our hobbies, but in general, we just cannot find that complete happiness, satisfaction, and fulfilment that we are looking for in life. Not surprisingly, over time, this leads us to become extremely frustrated and angry. When we have this constant build up of frustration and anger, that compounds the stress, anxiety, worry, and concern, we become like a volcano ready to erupt. We need an outlet to relieve ourselves of all this suffering and pressure, and unfortunately, many of us use others as that outlet. We criticize them, verbally abuse them, ridicule them, and blow up at them, perhaps just for something little they did, because that seems to give us reason to release all that anger, stress, and frustration. It could be our partner, our parents, our friends, a workmate, even just a stranger on the street or on social media, that bears the brunt of all this anger, stress, and frustration, and as a result, we can often cause emotionally wounding and hurt to these people. We walk around with a constant frown, when what we should be doing is turning that frown upside down.

Life can be cruel, that's no secret. We can often find ourselves in circumstances that are extremely unfair and painful, but the problem we have is we tend to focus all our attention on all the negative things in life, that we completely overlook the positive things. We live our life in ingratitude, constantly complaining about all that we don't have, rather than acknowledging and appreciating all that we do have. We allow adverse circumstances to overwhelm us, rather than seeking out the opportunity of what they are trying to teach us. It's nothing more than a simple shift in our mindset, and we can have a totally different outlook in life. The negativity we possess and allow our mind to focus on, is like a virus. It encourages anger, it encourages frustration, it encourages stress, it encourages worry, it encourages concern, it encourages pessimism, and it even encourages hatred. As a result, it then affects our mood, our attitude, and our behaviour, leaving us to talk and act in a negative manner towards others. We create this negative vibe which filters through onto those around us. We are spreading this negativity onto others. I know I've personally had a relationship with someone who was negative minded, and had a knack of dragging me down, at the drop of a hat. One minute, I am happy, jovial, positive, and content, then after conversing with this particular individual for just a few minutes, I became angry, frustrated, and annoyed. Their attitude, mood, and behaviour was totally destructive, and easily influenced me to become negative myself. Unsurprisingly, this person is no longer in my life. The thing is, this person is proof of how easily we can be influenced by, and we can influence, others. Just from our behaviour, mood, actions, and attitude, we can impact the mindset of others. The question is, why can't we influence others with positivity, instead of negativity?

Think for a moment about how you feel when someone smiles at you? You feel a sense acknowledgement, you feel respected, you feel valued, you feel appreciated, and you feel a real sense of happiness and warmth. It feels so much better than someone who walks straight past you without barely giving you the time of day to even so much as look at you. A smile is like a non-verbal way of saying "hello" to someone, a pure act of courtesy. In the simple act of a smile, you are projecting happiness, appreciation, and respect onto that person, and that has the power to influence them and their mindset as a result. When they see that someone has taken the time to acknowledge them, be it through just a simple smile, it can shift their mindset positively. They could be having a miserable day, or they could perhaps be dealing with some very dire circumstances and adversities in their life, and by offering them a smile, it may just be that surge of positivity that they so desperately needed to make them feel better, even if it is just slightly. There are benefits to smiling, that not only are favourable towards those receiving them, but also to ourselves. It's not surprising that it helps us with improving our own mood. Smiling actually release endorphins, the chemicals produced by the body to relieve stress and pain, which help us to feel happier and more positive. Smiling can help lower our blood pressure, relieve some of the stress and anxiety we are experiencing, and even may go as far as helping relieve some of the pains and aches our body may be feeling. Smiling can even help strengthen our immune system, and enhance our relationship with others. These benefits, I have just mentioned, have been scientifically proven to work, highlighting the fact that we shouldn't underestimate just how powerful a smile really is.

So, if we are feeling down and miserable, how can we manufacture a smile? Four words, make it a habit! We can encourage this by doing some basic actions each day, such as practicing gratitude and appreciating all the assets and people we have been blessed with in our life already, or spending more time outdoors in nature, or watching a comedy film, or committing to engaging in our hobby daily, or rewarding ourselves with something each day. Smiling starts with mindset. You first need to adjust your outlook on life, the way you think, and the way you talk. If you constantly talk negative and think pessimistically, then you can't expect to feel positive, and be smiling. You need to take control of your mindset, and start being more grateful, more generous and caring towards others, and more positive about your abilities and your future. Then project that positivity. Refrain from talking negatively, and promoting negativity, such as posting words of bitterness and spite on social media. Instead, use your words to uplift, encourage, and inspire others. When you pass by someone in the street, or the supermarket, make the effort to make eye contact with them, and just offer them a pleasant smile. It doesn't have to be done in a creepy way, just a passing smile to acknowledge that person, and then move on. You'd be surprised at how positively that impacts on their day. So no more of this moping around, moaning, groaning, frowning, and whinging and complaining about life! It's time to turn your frown upside down, and put a smile on your dial!

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