I know, I know. Not exactly what you'd expect from a Disney princess-wannabe. I think I should be waking up to woodland creatures helping me clean or wishing me "good morning"! Nope. This morning, I woke up frowning, as my cute little dog was licking me on my NOSE. So, I rolled out of bed to spend my first morning of Spring Break figuring out how to wipe this silly frown off my face.
I decided to go straight to the all-knowing and smartest source I know for that answer: God.
Actually, that would be a good Sunday School answer, but it's not the truth. In reality, I decided to google "reasons to smile". I came across some pretty interesting (and completely ridiculous) results, but one stuck with me:
It said this: Smiling can make you happy (even when you're not).
Okay, okay. So it was basically telling me to FORCE myself to smile. That made me frown more at that point. "Excuse me," I thought to myself. "The whole point of me googling this stupid question was so that I would find something to MAKE me smile! Not so that I'd have to make myself and pretend everything was okay. I have to do that all the time!"
But, then I tried it. And all the memories of me having made myself smile in times that I didn't want to in the past came rushing back.
- Standing on stage, being called first runner-up and watching someone win... Just smile, Lexie.
- Seeing an ex-boyfriend walking down the street, knowing he's moved on... Just smile, Lexie.
- Not getting the grade I wanted in class... Just smile, Lexie.
There have been a lot of opportunities to try this tactic out in the past, and I've taken them without even thinking about it! And it really does work.
The online article said this:
Remember that mind-body connection we were just talking about? Well, it turns out that the simple act of smiling sends a message to your brain that you're happy. And when you're happy, your body pumps out all kinds of feel-good endorphins. This reaction has been studied since the 1980s and has been proven a number of times. In 1984, an article in the journal Scienceshowed that when people mimic different emotional expressions, their bodies produce physiological changes that reflect the emotion, too, such as changes in heart and breathing rate. Another German study found that people felt happy just by holding a small pen clenched in their teeth, imitating a smile. Just remember that the research goes both ways. When the people in the first study frowned, they felt less happy, and in the German study, people who held a pen in their protruding lips, imitating a pout, felt unhappy. So the next time you feel sad or upset, try smiling. It just might make your body—and therefore you—feel better. (You can read the full article by clicking HERE.)So, that's what I'm doing today. I'm making myself smile. Apparently, my mind will follow suit.
If you pass me today, and I'm smiling at myself in a mirror or my reflection in a window, don't think I'm a crazy person. I'm not (most of the time). And even if watching me look ridiculous doesn't make you want to try it out, I hope you'll smile at how silly I look.
In the meantime, I'm going to go try to get rid of this frown!
In His Love,
Lex <3
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