The Benefit of Smiling (and Four Other Smiley Good Things)

Photo of two little girls smiling to represent the topic of this post: the benefit of smiling

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about smiling and the benefit of smiling. I like to think of myself as a happy smiler. Sometimes big. Sometimes little. When I see friends and loved ones, I smile big. When I see a beautiful thing, a sunset or an eagle or a snow-capped mountain, I smile little. You know those smiles where it’s really just your eyes and a softening of your face? Yeah, that’s a little smile.

Even when I talk on the phone, I smile little. Somewhere I read that a listener can actually hear you smile. It changes our voices. I’m not sure that’s accurate, but I’m going with it.

Lately I’ve been thinking about smiling as an intentional act. I think it’s because I’m alone a lot. Writing is a very solitary thing especially when compared to how I used to fill my days —teaching 130+ teenagers about thesis statements, Atticus Finch, and iambic pentameter. Not a lot of smiles from them but a lot of smiles from me to help it click.

So when I’m all alone, I don’t smile as much. (Lest you worry about my happiness, please know that this has not a thing to do with my heart’s joy.)

I watched a fun short TED talk, less than 8 minutes, about the hidden power of smiling. So yes, there really is a benefit of smiling! Did you know that kids smile as much as 400 times a day? No wonder kids make us smile! It’s super contagious. The talk reminded me that our smile sometimes wakes up those healthy brain chemicals and actually makes us feel better than we thought we did. And our genuine smile makes us more likable and less stressed. Good things.

4 Other Things About Smiles

#1. A good thing I learned?

The origin of the iconic yellow smiley face. Pretty interesting story if you have a few minutes to check it out. (It’s not Forrest Gump, but that’s still a great scene.)

#2. A good thing I forget to do but will try to do more often?

Smile. A real honest to goodness big grin. Or even if it’s just a little smile as I pick up the great book I’m reading or as I watch the squirrels chasing each other in the front yard.

#3. A new practice?

Intentionally smiling even when I don’t feel like it. I don’t think of this as fake. I think of this as changing my own perspective. Like when the person who has been tailing my car way too close passes and gives me a glaring stare. I will try to smile. At least it will make me feel better, right? Or when I’m rushing through the self-check-out lane and the computer says, “Please put your item back on the belt” for the fifth time, I will smile. Actually, this happens all the time, and I just have to laugh out loud.

#4. Some things I love that make me smile?

Old Frasier episodes, How I Met Your Mother, Fixer Upper, Forrest Gump, The Princess Bride, Mary Poppins. And the classic, The Sound of Music. Now when I have a quiet night at home alone and I need a smile, I know where to go.

And always, the good thing that can never be taken from me: