Happiness Spreads Through a Smile

A wise man who was able to visit and learn about the most intimate corners of the human soul said that “it is easier to get what we wish for with a smile than with the tip of a sword.” His name is William Shakespeare. Today we’ll discuss the smile and its power to spread happiness and positive vibes.

William Shakespeare created an extensive number of works throughout his lifetime. They were able to generate the whole rainbow of emotions that human beings can feel. From comedy to the deepest tragedy, the author’s restless quill is able to draw out a smile from the most tortured mind.

It is no coincidence that we begin this essay about happiness highlighting what a simple smile can convey, with a reference to one of the most renowned authors. His immortal plays have made us laugh for centuries. Who better than him to introduce us to this special world?

What is a smile?

A smile is a gesture that our whole face makes when we find something is pleasant, joyful or funny. In other words, it can be considered as an emotion’s portrait or a pleasant state that generates a temporary sense of wellbeing.

Logically, a smile has a physical component since for it to take shape in any person’s lips requires setting in motion a mechanism involving a total of 26 muscles. Let us consider that we have 43 muscles in our face and that to get angry we require an astounding 62 muscles. So others beyond the facial ones must come into play. Therefore, we can conclude that to smile is not complicated or that it at least requires less energy than to get angry.

If we are talking about smiles, we can think about some that have become famous throughout history, thanks especially to culture. Tortured souls like the Joker, Batman’s mortal enemy, or Leonardo Da Vinci’s incredibly famous Mona Lisa are good examples of the different meanings a smile can have.

This is necessary given that, according to certain studies, children are capable of smiling 400 times a day. This number decreases almost proportionally to age so that adults smile on average only 20 times a day. Of course, this is an average. We all know that person who doesn’t smile even if they are told the worst joke in the world or the one who finds a reason to smile just around every corner.

“A great smile is a giant’s beautiful face.”

Charles Baudelaire

The benefits of a smile to be happier

T he smile is a determining factor in being more joyful and happier on our day to day. That is why we will address a number of benefits that this practice brings about in human beings:

• The brain interprets a smile as a state of happiness and even secretes substances, such as serotonin. Even Charles Darwin discovered that facial feedback is good for the body, because it produces states of optimism.
• A smile produces a positive state in its environment. When your brain experiences it, along with sending signals to your body to move towards optimism, the smile has the same effect on those around you, generating a happier and more relaxed feeling of trust and closeness.
• According to some studies, the human brain seeks to be more trusting of people with whom it cooperates, who smile. This is because our own mind tends to get close to people who convey happiness because they are friendly.

• Under stressful situations, human beings reduce their peripheral vision, minimizing in fact their capacity to find solutions. However, abstract thought is much more efficient in this state under pressure. According to some studies, smiling persons tend to lose less peripheral vision when faced with stress, achieving better results when solving problems.
• A smile releases serotonin and endorphins, our body’s natural painkillers. It is also closely related to the reduction in stress-creating hormones such as dopamine and adrenaline. That is, a smile allows you to live better, more joyful, and happy.

Have you ever tested how much a smile can achieve? Try it right now. It is truly revealing how the world grows larger, and everything looks happier, more colorful and pleasant.