“Encourage everyone you meet with a smile or compliment. Make them feel better when you leave their presence and they will always be glad to see you coming.” — Joyce Meyer
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It’s October and it isn’t wonderful to start this month with a smile. The reason why I am writing this is because on the fourth day of this month, we will be observing World Smile Day.
I’m not sure if Filipinos are aware of it but the holiday was created by an American commercial artist named Harvey Ball. He was worried that the commercialization of the smiley face would lessen its impact. At least on this very day, he encourages people to do acts of kindness to spread goodwill and cheer.
After all, a warm smile, said William Arthur Ward, “is the universal language of kindness.”
Never estimate the power of a smile. As Hollywood actor Charlie Chaplin puts it, “You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”
At one time, I was mad as hell when someone took the book I bought. I left it on top of my table before I left for work. When I returned home, it was gone. I really don’t have any problem with it if the person who took it just left a note that he was borrowing it. At least, with a note I can always ask the person if he is already done with the book.
But what really got on my nerves this time was the fact that I had some scribbled notes on the said book which I inserted. I was afraid that whoever took the book might just throw away the notes I had written.
I was about to give up when my niece came to my room. “I am very much sorry, uncle,” she said. I was surprised; what had she done to me, I asked myself. She took something from her bag and with a big smile, “Here’s your book which I took without your knowledge. I forgot to leave a note.”
It didn’t matter if the book was lost. What mattered most was the fact that here was my niece and with a broad smile eased all those worries. Indeed, never underestimate the power of a smile. I have not seen a beauty contest where the contestants are not smiling.
Smiling is a nonverbal signal indicating friendliness, approachability, and lack of aggression. When our brains feel happy, endorphins are produced and neuronal signals are transmitted to our facial muscles to trigger a smile. Humans smile for many different reasons, including to be polite or to appear approachable, as well as to show more complex emotions, such as resignation. A genuine smile is produced without us realizing it. Smiling is a way to build social connections and trust with others, even across different species.
Smiling is a nonverbal sign that conveys friendliness, approachability, and lack of hostility. According to science, endorphins are released from our brains when we are joyful. Our face muscles receive neurological signals that cause us to smile.
“A smile is central to our evolution and one of the most powerful tools of human behavior,” explains Dr. Cacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied the importance of facial expression – including the variety and impact of smiles.
In 1872, Charles Darwin proposed in his book, The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals that facial expressions are biologically based and universal among human beings. However, the celebrated anthropologist Margaret Mead thought the smile was a cultural behavior that varied between societies.
There are several reasons why a person smiles. One indicator is that he or she is in love. Barry Manilow, referring to his beloved, croons, “I can’t smile without you.”
“A smile costs nothing but gives much,” someone once wrote. “It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it.
“Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.”
“Smile and others will smile back,” Jean Baudrillard thinks. “Smile to show how transparent, how candid you are. Smile if you have nothing to say. Most of all, do not hide the fact you have nothing to say nor your total indifference to others. Let this emptiness, this profound indifference shine out spontaneously in your smile.”
Actually, we smile because we are happy. Dr. Isha Gupta, an American neurologist, explains that a smile spurs a chemical reaction in the brain, releasing certain hormones including dopamine and serotonin.
The Cleveland Clinic describes dopamine as a type of monoamine neurotransmitter. “It’s made in your brain and acts as a chemical messenger, communicating messages between nerve cells in your brain and your brain and the rest of your body,” it explains.
Serotonin is a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout our body. “Serotonin plays a key role in such body functions as mood, sleep, digestion, nausea, wound healing, bone health, blood clotting and sexual desire,” the Cleveland Clinic says.
“Dopamine increases our feelings of happiness. Serotonin release is associated with reduced stress. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression and aggression,” Dr. Gupta told NBC News. “Low levels of dopamine are also associated with depression.”
So, it is better for you to smile. Nhat Hanh reminds, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
