Smile – even when you don’t feel like it

Let’s talk about smiling. If you haven’t come across the wonderful Jay Shetty yet, stop what you’re doing and go check him out. Right now. Go. Click on his name, seriously. I’ll be here. Just make sure you come back. Ok, so now you get my point. Amazing guy, right? Simple wisdom on life and all its facets. So, he recently posted about the power of smiling. The scientific effect of smiling, no less. About how it can affect your whole being. I can’t quite decide if I 100% agree but I do still love the idea. Now, believe me, I am definitely a smiler. I will smile at anyone I make eye contact with, no question. I am a firm believer of smiling at everyone because you just never know who might need it most. Sometimes a smile, that momentary expression of kindness and connection, is all someone needs to turn their day around.  With that being said, what I question is if it is ok to mask your emotions with a smile when they are less than happy?

Well, with the mindset of smiling having the ability to affect your whole being physically and mentally, I suppose it could be said that even a fake smile may positively affect at whatever it is hiding. I can personally attest to what it feels like pretending to be happy all the time but feeling like your falling apart inside. For me, I don’t like affecting other people’s days with whatever I am going through. So I smile regardless. And now that I think about it more often than not, having someone smile back at me, when I am feeling low, often inadvertently lifts my spirits. So maybe it’s like the one candle and a thousand mirrors. That one candle may only have it’s one flame giving off a little light, but when it is reflected a thousand times, it can light up the room. Hm. Curious. I guess Mr. Shetty must be right. So smile on, people, for the good of us all.