I just love when science catches up with the Bible and God’s design. Researchers are now reporting “new” information on happiness and its secret will remove the BaHumbug in your life.
It’s called smiling.
Ha. I know your thinking, no biggie Mona we already know smiling is good. But hear me out.
The research is more than more chatter about positive thinking, or changing your thoughts, or looking on the bright side. Nope.
The research shows that the very act of raising the corners of your mouth into a smile even if you don’t want to or have nothing to smile about is powerful.
Even a forced smile sends a message to your brain. “Hey, she’s smiling that means… happy, content, good things are happening.” And then the brain dumps dopamine and serotonin into the body.
Dopamine and Serotonin are two chemicals are explosive to:
- Reduce stress
- Lower blood pressure
- Produce longer life span
- Decrease depression
So… get rid of the humbugs or grumpy cray cray Christmas chaos by simply putting on a smile.
Who knew?
Well God did. He knew we would have trouble in the world and He knew the effects of sin would be hard on bodies made for paradise. So in His wisdom He created us to be able to release the feel good hormones faster that a quick grin.
- A smile can change everything. It’s the international language that everyone understands.
- There is nothing more contagious as a smile-except a yawn maybe.
- Smiling makes people want to reciprocate because they have received something from you.
- It’s so potent that we can even catch it from ourselves! Try it. Smile at yourself in the mirror and see what happens.
Bottom Line: When feeling down we need to smile.
Fake out your brain. It’s a sucker for a grin and it doesn’t care where its coming from. Your brain doesn’t take time to find out if you’re really happy or something good is happening. Nope. It’s just feels a grin and bam… it releases all the feel good stuff.
So as we approach Christmas and things get a little crazy with the schedule, the budget and the kids remember… you need all the feel good hormones you can get.
No BaHumbug for you… just curl up those corners and keep smiling. You’ll be feeling good and sharing that smile with others in no time.
Here’s the Mornings With Mona I did on the subject Click Here to Watch
