“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” ~Mother Teresa
It seems that with smiling, you can actually have your cake and eat it too!
Not only are smiles expressions of positive feelings (like happiness, excitement and enjoyment), the act of smiling, even if forced, enhances the very positive feelings that make us want to smile. So the smile is both cause and effect. The more we smile, even if we don’t particularly feel like it, the more we feel like it.
Moreover, one person’s smile is another person’s reason to smile. The smile, it turns out, is one of the most contagious of human conditions.
Why a post filled to the brim with happy faces?
This post is meant to instigate a ripple effect of smiles across the globe as you grin from your heart to your face (or your face to your heart, since smiling works in both directions) as you share your smile with others and they share theirs in turn (and please feel free to share this post with them too, while you’re in a sharing mood!).
Read the quotes and words under each photo and look at the smiley faces and see what happens to your own mood! Put yourself in the shoes of the happy faces and see if you can feel what they seem to be feeling.
And then just try not to smile. I bet you a 100 smiles you can’t make it to the end of this post without one creeping onto your kisser! 🙂
The authenticity of a child’s smile touches us deeply, awakening a childlike quality in us as well. The innocence of their smiles opens something in us that shows up on our own faces.
“If you’re reading this… Congratulations, you’re alive. If that’s not something to smile about, then I don’t know what is.” ~Chad Sugg
“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” ~Mother Teresa
Pure joy can’t be hid from the face that experiences it. And it shouldn’t be.
A real smile is the dew on the leaves of the soul. It is the cool breeze on a Spring day. It is the scent of freshness that wakes us up and stirs us to breathe deeply.
A solid smile is a hearty thing. It causes us to smile along with the smiler. It bounces off one set of cheeks and gets stuck on our own.
Soft. Simple. True. The smile of a child warms us like the sun after a cold day.
Enough said.
The joy a family can share in a moment when hearts bond are solidified by the smiles caught in time and remembered forever.
Even when smiles are obscured, eyes smile just as joyfully.
There is no smile more innocent and pure than a baby’s sudden exultation of delight.
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
“It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last a lifetime. We should all smile more often.” ~Steve Maraboli
Smiles don’t shrink or diminish with use; they catch like wildfire, spreading happiness while consuming sadness, devouring the funk in the heat of the joy that is expressed authentically in the moment.
There is no salute or greeting or expression of interest greater or more rewarding than a genuine smile.
“Peace begins with a smile.” ~Mother Teresa
Some smiles explode off little faces in a way that obliterate the stresses and frustrations of a long day.
Smiles are contagious things.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” ~Dr. Seuss
“The greatest self is a peaceful smile, that always sees the world smiling back.” ~Bryant H. McGill
The smile of a child is heaven’s way of reminding us that absolute beauty exists in a world that doesn’t always remember.
There are smiles of appreciation and gratitude. There are knowing smiles. There are smiles that express the wonderment of life. And there are silly smiles. And then sometimes, there are smiles that seem to reflect all those things rolled into a single grin.
“Nobody needs a smile so much as the one who has none to give. So get used to smiling heart-warming smiles, and you will spread sunshine in a sometimes dreary world.” ~Lawrence G. Lovasik
“Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.” ~Paramahansa Yogananda
Hide an authentic smile as you wish, it will always seep to the surface of the face, settling into the lines, lifting the cheeks and sparkling in the eyes.
“Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” ~Mark Twain
“It takes a lot of energy to be negative. You have to work at it. But smiling is painless. I’d rather spend my energy smiling.” ~Eric Davis
“Most smiles are started by another smile.” ~Frank A. Clark
A smile can undo a decade of pain. It can lift and inspire and comfort and sooth.
“Ah, Hope! what would life be, stripped of thy encouraging smiles, that teach us to look behind the dark clouds of today, for the golden beams that are to gild the morrow.” ~Susanna Moodie
Confident smiles are sexy smiles. There need not be any flirtatiousness or immodesty. Just the soft smile that captures a simple acceptance of self and life is all that’s needed.
“Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms.” ~Thomas Gray
A child’s smile reminds me that the divine glows warmly in the heart and soul.
Us human types tend to mimic our surroundings. Depressed people tend to bring others down. Anxious people make us nervous. When others shout, we often start raising our voices, usually without realizing it and even when unnecessary. We’re so sensitive to our surroundings (and smiles are just so darned contagious) that even smiling animals and statues can put a smile on our faces.
“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.” ~Joseph Addison
“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” ~Lord Byron
“Smiles are the language of love.” ~David Hare
Afterthoughts
You have now been officially inundated with joy. Come back as often as needed (or wanted) to get a double dose of smile-inspired happiness. In fact, you may want to bookmark this post so you can come back over and over again to get your smile fix!
A smile is a magical thing. It melts the grime of life off the skin and replaces darkened minds with light and softens hardened hearts with the gentle caress of love.
Now go spread the joy!
Your turn …
- How did you feel by the end of the post?
- Which smile was your favorite?
- Are you a smiler? Why or why not?
Click each picture for photo credit
Those are some great smiles Ken! I was just thinking today that there is one essential oil which, honestly, makes me smile just to inhale it – Cassia!
My grandmother used to say it takes 78 muscles to frown and only 14 to smile. I wonder if that’s true!
How is your summer going? Hate to see it end?
Lori
Lori Gosselin recently posted … What’s Your Emotional Default?
Hi Lori! I have to claim ignorance on the oil, but it was a lot of fun searching for all the smiles. It was hard to pass up so many others that I didn’t use.
I actually looked up the smile vs frown muscle numbers, having heard that aphorism many times before. I was thinking about using it in my post. It’s always good to verify because there are LOTS of conflicting numbers out there.
Snopes gave a whole list of quotes from as reputable sources as CNN and the New York Times quoting pretty significantly different numbers. Snopes also made the valid point that the size of the muscle is more important than the number as it’s easier to push several small tricycles out of the way than one large stalled car. So number of muscles doesn’t really tell the whole story. According to their report, there is no study that has taken all such factors into consideration, so we just don’t know if it’s easier to smile or frown. Oh well.
Yes, I start school again at the end of this week–just some meetings and classroom prep time. I get students next Tuesday, and the year will be officially on! I love what I do, so I do itch to get back to teaching, but I will miss all the time with my family. So yes, I will miss summer. How has yours been? Lots of productive work? Or lots of relaxation? Or a good mix of both?
Hi Ken,
Summer was busy and a bit relaxing but not as much as I would have liked. Our daughter was home for 3 weeks, though, and that was good.
I look forward to the fall.
Lori
Lori Gosselin recently posted … What’s Your Emotional Default?
Getting to see family (daughters or otherwise) is my favorite part of summertime and Christmas break and other long stretches of days off. So glad you were able to see your daughter. Nothing’s better.
The smiles & quotes brightened my day and lifted my heart. I especially loved the quote from Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened”. That can bring a smile even to those who long to relive parts of their past. And I love your quote, that “smiles….spread like wildfire, spreading happiness”. Thanks Kenneth. You’re a treasure.
So glad, Mom! I love the Dr. Seuss quote too! What a great way to look at loss.
I’ve been to funeral services that were marked so painfully by deep mourning and despair. And I’ve been to funeral services that were almost celebratory. Family members cried, but spent much more time reminiscing and celebrating the life of the loved one. Such a stark contrast in the way the families and friends dealt with the challenge of losing a loved one.
I think Grandma’s funeral was a lot like that.
Thanks for the support Mom! Love you!
Aloha Ken,
As always a great post. When I first moved to Hawaii (with only $800) things got a bit dicey. One day I was walking my dog and worrying and this woman simply smiled at me. Her smile made a huge difference in my life. I smile a lot. I also found out it takes less muscles to smile than to frown.
So sending a BIG smile back at you …
With love, aloha and lots of smiles,
Susan
Susan recently posted … Episode 101: Jealousy
Hi Susan! Smile received! Thanks so much! What a heart-warming story you shared. That must have been scary to be somewhere new (and difficlt to go anywhere else (can’t very well drive over to the next state!) with only $8000 in your pocket. There’s something reassuring about a smile, isn’t there!
Lot’s of love and smiles back at you, Susan!
Awesome!!
Smile are infectious.
This post made me smile
you are so right about who we surround ourselves with and how it affects our days.
great post!!
sw
Then it served its purpose, Steve! Thanks for stopping by and sharing. It truly is remarkable how contagious smiles are. And our happiness just grows as we spread the contagion!
Hi Ken! Thank you for all the great smiles. You are so right that all you need to “get happy” is to see others smiling and it just brightens everything!
Hey, I never did get any information about the “Happiness Movement” thing that you were starting. Did I miss something? You have my email here so let me know if I need to do something and we’ll go from there…and yes, I’ll keep smiling! ~Kathy
Kathy recently posted … Music Can Make You Happy & Healthy—Or Not!
Hi Kathy! A smile can be such a powerful thing. Have you ever had a confrontation with someone, or perhaps a moment when things between people started getting weird, and you smiled and it immediately lifted the weirdness and defused the conflict? I’ve been there and it’s almost as if the other person is searching for an excuse to step away from the rising tension and just doesn’t know how. It’s as if the smile grants them permission to calm down.
Oops! I’ll send over the info. on the Happiness Movement. I’m not exactly sure when (things are still in the works), but I’m close to making some big changes to my online presence that will affect The Movement. The details will be announces when all the “T’s” have been crossed and “i’s” dotted.
You had me by the 3rd photo. And here I was trying to pout and brood. Thanks for the pick me up!
You’re oh so welcome, Denise! We do get in those funky little moods sometimes, don’t we! I’m happy to have made a difference in your day. Feel free to come back as often as needed to pluck yourself out of those pouting and brooding emotional funks! 🙂
[…] 50 Smiles Guaranteed To Make You Smile (get happy in less than 5 minutes) […]
Terrific, Ken! How could anyone not smile after seeing these faces? 🙂
Lisa recently posted … Not Dead Yet
Thanks Lisa! A smile does wonders to the smiler and to the smiled (to coin a new use of the word). Thanks so much from dropping in!
Not going to lie. I got to the monkey and started laughing. The guy with the mustache was very funny too.
Sebastian recently posted … Bullies
Happy to put a smile on your face, Sebastian! Yeah, I started laughing too when I first found the monkey photo.
Good article and inspirational to all .even motivates to do good not only for yourself but also for others to keep us smiling.