How is your smile? I've been reading about the benefits of a good one. And the riches of turning a frown upside down. Apparently it takes 22 of our 42 facial muscles to smile and 37 of them to frown. You wanna save energy? Smile. You wanna bring joy? Smile.
On average, women smile 62 times a day. Men? Eight times. Ouch! Guys!
Kids smile about 400 times a day, adults 35 times. Where did we lose 365 laughs a day? That's 133,000 a year. There are a thousand benefits to a smile. Here are five: Smiling makes you more attractive, relieves stress, boosts your mood, reduces blood pressure, and helps you live longer. That's reason enough for me.
Years ago I asked Myrna, who worked for years as a switchboard operator, why she was so popular in that role. She said, "I smile on the phone. They can't see me smiling, but I'm told you can hear a smile. It changes your tone."
And what helps me smile? Well, let me be honest, this has been a week filled with uncertainty. Yet, in the midst of it, I know God loves me. Here are other things that help me smile.
An inch and a half of rain during a summer drought.
A grandchild's laugh.
Puppy breath.
Freshly washed sheets.
A friend sneaking up behind me in my office and scaring the daylights out of me. I smiled-once they got my heart going again.
A friend's cat. Without him knowing, the cat rode in his car engine for 500 miles. And lived.
Seeing my wife wink at me across a crowded room.
Jesse, age ten, who sends me jokes: "Why did the old man fall in the well? Because he didn't see that well."
Finding a pencil with an eraser that doesn't smudge things.
Thinking it was Thursday when it was Wednesday. I got a bonus day.
An on-time flight.
Reading Psalm 33:18: "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love."
Old couples holding hands.
Seeing our grandson Liam take his first steps.
The cashier who opened a new checkout line just for me.
Looking into the mirror and saying, "This will be a good hair day."
Completing a perfect parallel park.
Remembering that God is in control.
The evening stars and the reminder of the awesomeness of our Creator.
Fixing something by smacking it.
Spraying canned whip cream straight into my grandkids' mouths.
When the grandchild screaming in the mall isn't mine.
Eating something past the expiry date. And living!
A wife who dislikes cilantro but puts it in my sandwich.
And behind it all, is the outrageously absurd truth that a guy like me is loved and forgiven by grace through faith in a holy God.
So go looking for things to smile about today. It's free therapy. My friend Jesse even knows how to get a mouse to smile. He says, "You just say cheese!"
Phil Callaway is an author and speaker. Visit him at philcallaway.com
