As a retired teacher I miss seeing my ten-year old students with down-trodden faces in the mornings. They would be tired or grumpy or premenstrual. I enjoyed greeting them at the door with a great big smile bellowing out a good morning to each and everyone as they entered. Some would whisper something, some would stroll by, but there were a few that would actually look up at me, smile, and acknowledge that I was there. Once they were all seated, I did it again. I smiled and greeted the whole class to let them know a new day was about to begin.

Smiling really can change your mood. It reduces stress, it’s easier than a frown, you’re more attractive with a smile, and you are likely to have a more successful day starting with smiling. While teaching, I don’t know how many times I heard a colleague say, “A smile is a frown turned upside down.” I know I have said it. Everyone must know by now, it takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown. All these little tricks teachers would use to get their students to smile.

There’s nothing more contagious than a smile. When you smile at someone, how can they resist smiling back at you? Have you ever tried that in the grocery store? It works. Just look up at someone who seems to be frustrated over their grocery list. Give them a big smile and a hello, and I bet you’ll get one right back. That’s because a smile can reduce stress, make you happier, and relaxes a body.

What’s odd is that women tend to smile much more than men. A woman can smile up to or even more than 62 times a day. Sadly, a man will smile on the average of about 8 times each day. I wonder why that is. Is it because a woman is better looking when smiling? She doesn’t even need makeup if she’s smiling heartily. Scientists say that chocolate is a sensor-inducer. However, a great big smile can stimulate the brain in much the same way.

When I was just nineteen, I worked as a waitress in a restaurant. Oh, my! Sometimes the food orders would come up so fast, and you had to scramble from table to table to get the food to your customers. Hard as I could, I kept a smile on my face. One of the cooks asked me why was I always smiling. I really had no answer for him. It just seemed like the best thing to do under the circumstance. Mother Theresa once said, “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” Maybe that was my best answer.

Do you have any children? Did you notice that a smile was their first facial expression? That’s because babies are born with a natural instinct to be able to smile. It is their first facial expression. I never understood why babies smile when they fart, though. It could be because smiling is like medicine, and it made them feel better. Kids are so much fun! They can laugh up to 400 times in one day. However, an adult may laugh only 14 times in a day. This seems rather sad to me. I want to laugh and smile more!

So, how’s your smile-o-meter? Are you a smiler? Maybe you need to add that to your to-do list of things to accomplish. Smile more! Charlie Chaplin said, “You’ll find life is really worthwhile, if you just smile.” Smile for your friends and family, and then smile for everyone else. You’ll find it’s rather catchy.