It's Time to Smile More and Frown Less

“Life is primarily for laughing, loving, and living. It ain’t just for whining, worrying, and working!”
Ed Foreman*

by Skip Cohen

​It's a typical Sunday, but different than the ones I used to write about. These days it's my run to the market at 7:00 am. With Sheila's asthma, I've got less respiratory issues than she does, so I hit the market before the nut jobs who don't wear masks show up.

Checking out, I had a guy and his girlfriend in front of me without masks, and I always ask, "Just curious, what is it about wearing a mask that bothers you so much?" Well, I got a dirty look, and no response as the two of them left the store. 

Driving home, I found myself just getting angry over meeting somebody who still doesn't get it. And it's not just about my health, but the team at my local Publix, who I'm forever grateful they're there and helping me keep our fridge stocked!

So, trying to figure out what to write about, I realized I needed to loosen up, and that got me thinking about that old line we used to hear about it takes more muscles to frown than smile, which I've learned isn't totally accurate. Searching Google, I found:

On average, a smile uses 12 and a frown 11. However, since humans tend to smile a lot, these muscles are stronger. A frown may be slightly more effort to produce. just because we aren't as used to using these muscles.

But then I found the answer I really needed, and it's so true:

...smiles work in both directions: Just as happiness can make you smile, studies have shown that thanks to a quirk of the autonomic nervous system, smiling can make you happy. Unfortunately, the same holds true for expressions of sadness and distress. Both phenomena relate to mirror neurons — brain cells that spark up both when we observe an action, such as a smile, and when we take part in it.

So, no matter what your frustrations with the world around you, we just need to smile more. For the rest of today, I'm determined to have this dumb, "What me worry?" look on my face. It's an Alfred E. Neuman kind of day, and nothing is going to dampen my spirits. Try it right now - just crank up the volume on the happiest dumbest smile you can push out!

See what I mean?

Wishing everybody a day of smiles, but not just on your face - let's get them going in your heart. 

​Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everybody!

*I've followed Ed Foreman for years, meeting him back in my Polaroid days. He's been an inspiration to me since the 70s. Although, over the years I modified his quote a little - Life is for laughing, loving and living NOT bitching, moaning and complaining. LOL

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