The core potency of smiles

The right smile, at the right time, wins friends and calms enemies. The smile held for too long, not long enough, flashed too intensively or too dimly, arouses suspicion, fear or anger. Far from being a straightforward show of joy, the language of smiles is filled with subtlety: a meld of our inner state, surroundings, social training, conscious and unconscious. When you smile, there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. Give it a try if you have a blood pressure monitor at home. Sit for a few minutes, take a reading. Then smile for a minute and take another reading while still smiling. Do you notice a difference? So when people genuinely smile, in a true burst of positive emotion, not only to the corners of the mouth, controlled by the zygomaticus major, but this muscle around the eye also contracts. This causes the crows feet wrinkles that fan out from the outer corners of the eyes and it’s also responsible for folds in the upper eyelid. Most people can’t do that deliberately. When people are by themselves, believing they are not being observed, there isn’t a lot of smiling. We might think that if we’re reading a book by ourselves and we come across a funny passage we’d break into a smile, but it’s actually pretty rare. But if that same passage is being read to us, or other people are in the room, we’re more likely to smile. We don’t really know. Some things we do intentionally, other things spontaneously. Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There’s a good chance you mood will change for the better. Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood.

Smiling makes people more attractive. This seems to be especially true for women. Men are more likely to approach a woman who smiles than one who simply makes eye contact, while women aren’t necessarily drawn in by a smile alone. Some facial expressions can probably be taken at face value. It makes evolutionary sense to show expressions that we don’t always feel, and not to show expressions that we do feel. If we always showed exactly what we felt then others could potentially see through to our souls and take advantage of us. But we also occasionally reveal our emotions spontaneously and genuinely, that keeps us on our toes and influences a sealed deal. Surrounding yourself with happy, fun-loving, optimistic people will bring out your happy side, and their behavior will rub off on you as you subconsciously mimic their behavioral patterns. Smiles do a lot more than simply let the world know you’re happy.

They don’t even have to be genuine to have some effect, but truest smiles do you the most good. Most people can spot a fake smile, even if they can’t say how they know. Fake smiles usually use fewer muscles than genuine smiles, which involve muscles around the eyes. Real smiles also creep in slower than the false ones. So, if you have to fake a smile, try to make it as real as possible, think of happy memories or visualize your favorite people and places. It makes a difference in what others see and in how you feel. Stress limits our perceptions and narrows our attention.

Our bodies kick into fight or flight mode where we can focus only on one of those things. Smiling counteracts this and widens our attention again, opening us back up to multitasking and insights that come from the fringes of our perception and our subconscious.

Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter and play also adds joy, vitality, and resilience, people who smile are more likely to get a promotion. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times. Incorporating more humor and play into your daily interactions can improve the quality of your love relationship as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends.

Using humor and laughter in relationships allows you to have a vivid understanding of one’s confidence. Smiling makes you appear more business friendly and approachable. Interaction with others is easier and more enjoyable when smiles and laughs are shared, and these behaviours are contagious, making others feel better too, and make you a more appealing and attractive person to be around.

This in turn will have a positive effect on your well-being. If you’re in a position of power, or want to be, smiling can be the key to your success. It is widely accepted that we are more trustful of others when they smile and smile genuinely. Trust is an important part of social health when dealing with people, whether they are loved ones or simple acquaintances. Seems relationships are truly built on smiles.

The best winning smiles are mostly effective after a well planned at arousing a lucrative business deal, even at the climax of execution, you can be certain that your smiles holds confidence on your future entreat. Put on a smile at meetings and appointments and people will react to you differently.

Julie Agnes Omeike