Do you know that smiling is believed to actually lengthen life? This is according to studies conducted by many researchers over the past years.

Effects of Smiling

Maybe not very many are aware that smiling has effects that affect not just relationships but even health and longevity. For example, in a study published last year, researchers looked into an old issue of a magazine called Baseball Register and studied the photos of some 230 baseball players. They researchers found this: that on the average, the players with bright and wide smiles lived 4.9 years longer than the baseball players with partial smiles; and these players who sported wide smiles lived 7 years longer than the players who never smiled at all. They may be wrong, but we have to admit that smiling cultivates positive feelings, and positive feelings are associated with feelings of well-being – something that can contribute to a happier and longer life.

Make others happy: smile!

According to an article published in the British Medical Journal, love can be spread up to the third degree. This means than a happy person’s happiness can actually have an effect to two more people beyond her. How is this possible? Think about it this way: Person A is feeling great and happy. Then she meets her friend named Person B and Person A gives Person B a very sweet and genuine smile. The likelihood is very high that when Person B meets her own friend Person C and she smiles to her too, Person C will be influenced by the smile that originated from Person A. To make this long story short and less complicated, it simply means that if you smile, a friend of a friend is more likely to smile, too.

This study reported in the British Medical Journal concluded that people’s happiness actually depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected. According to the researchers, happiness, just like health, is a collective phenomenon.

What If Smiling Is Just Too Difficult?

Of course we have to acknowledge the fact that there will always be times when smiling is just too hard. This normally happens when stress is simply overwhelming – when things are not going as they should. The challenge therefore, is to look beyond the difficulties and realize that there is and will always be something to smile about.

Exercise

In order to start smiling again, or to have something to smile about, why don’t you try to watch a funny movie or video or TV show? You can also read a funny book or magazine. The key here is to not let the problem take the best out of you. If you’re at home and feeling blue, why not get out for a while? Go take walk someplace that would make you feel better. Go to the Mall, for example, and be in the middle of the crowd. The walking will do you good; it’s exercise! And exercise helps activate the feel-good hormones called serotonin. If you have a pet, play with him or her. Pets are said to be very effective companions; they make you feel wanted and needed and loved – they make you feel better about yourself. Pets, more importantly, make you smile.

So, smile more often. Know that when you smile, the people close to you will feel your happiness and will benefit much from it. Let us always remember that happiness is contagious.

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