Happy Friday Series Archives - Page 11 of 11

Smile fasdfdsfoiueire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thrilled to launch our first in The Happy Friday Series post kick off with none other than Peg Fitzpatrick, the most smilingist 12 Moster, blogger, Facebooker, and Twitter peep I have the privilege of knowing. You hang around her and there’s nothing you can do but smile; she imbues positive. See what I mean?

Peggy Fitzpatrick Says:

Which came first the smile or the positive attitude? Did you know that it can go either way? If you’re feeling stressed putting on a smile can actually reduce your heart rate and some studies also suggest that “smiling could reduce levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone.” (from Simply Smiling link below) This is a case where “fake it ‘til you make it” is relevant.

“Lots of smiling can actually make you healthier. Smiling can help reduce the level of stress-enhancing hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine; increase the level of mood-enhancing hormones like endorphin; and reduce overall blood pressure.” –Ron Gutman

TED Talk Ron Gutman – The Hidden Power of Smiling

The best thing about a smile is that if you share one with someone else, it almost always comes back to you. When someone smiles at you, your mind makes subtle judgments: they are happy, they like me, they are confident, and things along these lines. Take the opportunity to make a positive impression on others.

“If you want to make a good first impression, smile at people. What does it cost to smile? Nothing. What does it cost not to smile? Everything, if not smiling prevents you from enchanting people.”
? Guy Kawasaki from Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions

“Children smile almost 400 times per day.” This explains why people love to spend time at the park or other places where children run free. Smiling, laughing, and having fun come naturally to children and they look for ways to enhance or repeat things that they enjoy. Sure, kids have much less stress than adults but I defy you not to smile if you go to the park and get on the swing set. It’s still fun but it also probably brings back happy memories of recess and playing with your friends.

Three things that you can do today to bring a smile to your face:

Watch something positive like Jessica’s Daily Affirmation.
Listen to happy music, I wrote an article called 12 Most Must-Be Happy Songs if you need some suggestions
Smile at someone else

So, there you have it, many reasons why you should and can have a smile on your face. What are your favorite ways to make someone else smile?

Resources:

Simply Smiling can Actually Reduce Stress via Smithsonian.com

kidsface Happiness is pervasive; everywhere you look and listen, someone is talking about studies on happiness at academic levels, about books they’re reading, about happiness jars they’re creating, and the love they have for their fellow man.

I applaud them all. We need more positive spirit and positive mental attitude and smiles and giggles and belly laughs to endure the constant stream of negativity, backlash and strife in this entire world.

Peggy Fitzpatrick is one of the happiest women I know; every day, her avatar greets us with that infectious wide grin complete with a sprinkling of stars in various colors behind her head. Her posts are always positive, always supportive, always full of love, and generosity. Her spirit is so alive, and she leads the 12Most.Com community with Paul Biedermann. Run to her blog and Facebook community or Twitter to see what I mean.

Happiness jars are being crafted all over and posted online. Do you know why? Because we need to share the good things we’re thankful for and recognize what makes us laugh and smile every day.

Did you know laughter is the best medicine? Not kidding; that tired old cliché is tried and true – laughter indeed makes the heart healthier. And, it releases the negative acids and endorphins and hormones into the sky leaving you with a rosy feeling and a spritely step.

On Fridays, please hold me to it, we’re going to find GOOD news that brings a smile to your psyche. Maybe it will make you happy, or maybe it will send away a negative thought, or two.

And, to make this really work, I’d like your help…here’s how:

Guest Post here on a Friday about happiness, good mental energy, spiritual positiveness (yep, word coin), laughs, or whatever tickles you. I don’t mind if you have no blog of your own and want to get your feet wet. Send me 400 words if you don’t know what to write; we’ll get a story going.
Share in comments something you saw or read that makes you or made you happy. I’ll cover it here.
Send me links to happy stuff, and I’ll sprinkle them in the channels.
Join my Bloggers Unite! Community on Google+ — we’re nearing 90 members and growing. It’s where we lend some levity to our seriousness with banter, XO and LOL. Knowing that Alaska Chick Blog of Pioneer Outfitters (yes, it’s Amber-Lee Dibble) is my co-moderator should bring a smile right off.

What think? Join me in our collective pursuit of happiness, would you? All writers and stories welcome. You will smile; that’s the goal.