Smiling at social gatherings while hanging out with those people we trust can almost make our face hurt. Laughing so hard that we bend over and belly up on furniture is an experience I’m sure we have all experienced more than one.
Learning to embrace the power of generosity in sharing your smiles can set you up for the long run.
Well, did you know that several studies have proven that smiling is linked to our well-being, may it be spiritual, emotional, and physical? And I don’t mean just smiling once in your day, but how other people who continuously smile and show generosity can really impact others.
Let’s learn how what all of this generosity and similar means.
To delve further, here are some of the things that you may not know about your smiles. Let’s start simple and state something that you might find very ‘mad-hatter’ of me: laughing can keep us alive. Let me explain.
Laughter keeps us alive.
Smiling, from a scientific outlook, has been confirmed to provide us with a purpose as to how we live our lives. Smiles function as a communication prompt, thereby fostering connections with other people, which in turn helps us through with our daily lives.
Interestingly enough, it can also help us remove excess pent up stress that we have burrowed internally.
It is the most natural way of conveying what we think and feel—whether we hear a funny story, greeting a new acquaintance, or meeting a loved one after not being with them for a long time. It is a no brainer to state that emotional statements are stronger than words. Picture this scenario at work, someone who is perceived as outgoing and friendly with a smile on his/her face will be easily appreciated.
Yet, anthropologists state that despite having some positive implications, smiling does not mean the same across various cultures as they may have varying perspectives on humor. Hence, one should be cautious in using this in using this nonverbal action during communication; as Victor Hugo once said, “Caution is the eldest child of wisdom.”
Another way to look at how smiling can keep us alive is in the way we see people grow older.
When our loved ones grow older, such as our grandparents and parents, we notice that their sparkle starts dimming.
For some of us, that may come with dementia, making it harder for them to express themselves. Even in the times that they cannot express it, it’s important for you to carry on smiling to keep their story and them alive.
Now that we understand what smiling can do for ourselves, let’s switch gears and turn to how smiling can be a driving force in relationships. Keeping reading to learn about another reason how to embrace the power of generosity in sharing your smiles.
Smile serves as a driving force in relationships.
Laughing often is considered one of the secrets to a fulfilling, long-term relationship. Research has shown that the release of endorphins, popularly known as the “happy hormone”, help people feel incredibly better about our lives in general. While sharing things with your loved ones cultivate stronger bonds, sharing a laughter or two is one of the most effective ways to keep relationships going.
I know from my own experiences that smiling with those who I care about extends beyond just my partner–it goes to include my closest friends, family and even my children. I think a lot of times, we don’t think about the small things that bring us happiness. It’s easy to feel forgotten about when no one sees the emotions that you wear externally.
At the University of California – Berkeley, a survey was conducted with the participation of more than 150 couples, where it was found that a smile from one partner helps situations to calm down during conflicts. In fact, laughter helps partners communicate more easily and puts aside negative emotions, simplifying the process of finding solutions to conflicts.
I remember my grandma used to say that smiles are windows to seeing the soul of a person. Most people would say your feet are, but not in this case. I think it’s very true that as a society, we worry about how we look often–and I’m not just talking about the outfits we choose.
If these reasons are not enough to convince you of the importance to embrace the power of generosity in sharing your smiles with others, let me tell you about how that action alone can change your immune system positively. Doesn’t that sound transformative?
Well, keep reading to find out!
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Your immune system is positively affected when you laugh.
Laughter is like tonic as it helps one person maintain and protect their health. When a person laughs, the amount of white blood cells increases, which help prevent foreign bodies from invading your body and protect you from diseases. All this goes to show how a simple action that is repeated often can decrease your chances of having health problems, such as heart disease and destress you.
Academics have also proven that the effect of laughter is likened to taking multivitamins, especially that it helps stimulate the body, relieve negative emotions, and reduce stress hormone levels—thereby keeping one’s body healthy.
In a way, the same article says that smiling acts as pain relief. When you smile, it “increases infection-fighting antibodies and immune cells, strengthening your immune system.” I know that if you were to tell me that at this ripe age of 13-30, I would have never believed you.
I still think a lot of people need to try to embrace small actions, such as smiling, to feel the impacts of how they can express themselves to others while also supporting themselves in a multitude of ways.
While we are talking about the relationship between smiling and health, let’s get into how spreading smiles equate to generosity.
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Spread smiles.
Admit it, when someone smiles, you automatically smile too. It’s not magic, but a fact as per psychology. Scholars found that imitating other people’s facial expressions generates empathy; in other words, whatever the emotion is conveyed by someone can also affect us to feel the same too. You laugh, and I laugh—simple as that.
When you imagine someone giving you a gift or doing a simple service for you, they are usually smiling. The same idea can be applied to other examples throughout anyone’s lifetime where you remember that someone else’s action resulted in you feeling appreciative for them.
More than not, when you accept their efforts, you are accepting more than their smile–you are accepting their generosity. Is this all making sense now?
If you are known to be a giver or someone who enjoys doing nice things for certain people you care about, you might be their person who they fine to feel generous in smiles–whether you above realized it or not yet.
Additionally, physiologically speaking, the reason why laughter is contagious is how it sounds in varied ways. The sound of laughter activates the frontal cortex, involved in moving facial muscles, in response to the received sound signal. This is also why comedy movies incorporates laughter sound effects to stimulate these facets from a person. Compared to when we are alone, it’s easier to smile or laugh when we are with others. The more we smile or laugh, the happier it will make us feel.
Modern life’s pressures and problems have a way of making us less “generous” with our smiles. Still, let’s smile more often because doing so brings joy to our lives, emotionally and spiritually.
Now that we’re at the end of this article–Embrace The Power of Generosity In Sharing Smiles–let’s recap on everything that we have learned so far in this last section!
In Conclusion
My grandma has always worn one of the biggest smiles for as long as I can remember. I never realized how important it was for those around us to continue smiling even when others couldn’t. An act so small that we take for granted can impact us beyond just our own relationships.
When looking into the science and psychology behind the act of smiling, it is transformative to see what benefits can be yielded from a simple act such as that.
I always say other people who were generous to be warm and patient. I never knew that smiling was something that always came with it until I reflected on my own life and put the piece together on when I was someone else’s ‘generous person.’
Above anything, I would like to think that this article was less of a guide, but a self reflection piece to help you navigate the actions that you take in your life to help you look and feel the best while doing the most with your time to uplift those around you that you are deeply about.
If you have any tips or tricks that you would like to share with others about your self reflection journey, feel free to comment it down below. Happy reading and happy smiles everyone!
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