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Heartwings Love Notes 786 - Smiles and Frowns Can Grow on You

Heartwings says, “A smile is a frown turned right side up.”

My first husband was in the ROTC in college. After his graduation we went to El Paso to live while he attended officers’ school. Other young families lived in the small housing complex near us. Sometimes our children played together. One young mother from Oklahoma had frown and squint wrinkles from living in that dry climate. Seeing them I determined that if I was going to have wrinkles at least they would be pleasant ones, and so whenever I started to squint or frown I would catch myself and stop.

Internet research revealed that it takes more muscles for a genuine smile than it does for a frown. In addition the act of smiling exercises the facial muscles and brings more blood to nourish the cells of the face. This keeps us looking younger. More importantly, the act of smiling releases feel good endorphins in the brain, which actually makes us feel happier. This is called a positive feedback loop. Even you do not feel like smiling, it is true that when you make a small smile, even a pretend one, it will release some of those endorphins and make you feel better and more like really smiling.

The subject of this column was sparked by the visit of an old and dear friend who recently came over for lunch. He told us that a short while ago, when he was interviewing for a job and his interviewer asked, "Do your cheeks hurt?" He said they didn’t and asked why. "Because you never seem to stop smiling," came the reply. He does indeed smile a lot, and he is a very happy person. I expect there is a connection there. For myself ever since I can remember I have always enjoyed smiling at people. It does make me feel good and sometimes I get a smile in return.

Years ago I did discover that it was unwise to smile at strangers on the subway because they might get the wrong idea and try to follow me home. It is also true that in some societies, smiles are considered bad form and indicate something less than friendliness. An article in Wikepedia suggests that smiles may have evolved from a grimace of fear. However, perhaps this worked to make people less fearful and happier, who knows. It has been said that in our youth we have the face God gave us, and in our elder years we have the face we have given ourselves. This is a good enough reason to smile as often as possible.

May you find much to smile about and may you smile often and happily.

 

I love to hear from readers and would be honored if you would comment and let me know any suggestions or thoughts. If a friend sent you this, you can sign up at my web site, www.heartwingslovenotes.com, where more love notes can be found in the archives.

Blessings and Best Regards,
Tasha Halpert
 

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