Alyson Breisch

Southern Conference Minister

for Health and Wellness

I’ve had the word “Smile” on my working list of topics for my newsletter article for quite a while. Today I decided I would write about smiles. When I looked on the internet, I was surprised to discovered that October 4th was World Smile Day 2024. The theme was “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.” I may have missed the “official” day, but it’s always a good time to talk about smiles! World Smile Day is celebrated annually on the first Friday in October. It was started by Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts, who created the iconic smiley face symbol in 1963 for a local company. The design was never trademarked. Lots of people liked it and began to use it. It became a very well-known symbol and morphed into the many emotion emojis we all know today. As his creation became too commercialized, he wanted to devote an annual day to genuine smiles and acts of kindness.

Turns out smiling is good for your health! It lifts your spirit and also boosts your immune system. Smiling increases mood-enhancing hormones like dopamine while decreasing stress-enhancing hormones, including cortisol, and adrenaline. Smiling helps reduce the body’s response to stress and lowers heart rate in tense situations. Studies have linked smiling to lower blood pressure and suggest that smiling leads to longevity.

Smiling is “contagious”. A smile is something that is easy to pass on. A smile often puts us and others at ease. When someone smiles at you, you feel the good vibes from them, which makes you want to pass a smile on to the next person. Your smile can draw others to you. A smile is the most international language that everyone knows. A smile’s contagion is so potent, we may even be able to catch one from ourselves. It is suggested that smiling at yourself in the mirror can help shift your mood in only a few seconds by triggering your mirror neurons which can re-center and calm you down if feeling low or anxious.

We need to smile more! Research shows that children smile an average of 400 times per day, compared to the average happy adult who smiles 40-50 times per day and the typical adult who smiles only 20 times per day. When you notice beauty and kindness around you, smile! When you have a quiet moment, give yourself a smile! Find ways to invite another person to smile. Brighten someone’s day by leaving kind notes for them to find ; surprise someone with an unexpected card or gift that you’ve made; share your musical talents by visiting a residential home and offering to perform for their residents; send a card to a friend to thank them for being great; smile at everyone you encounter for a day and just see how many smiles you get back! A single act of kindness can transform someone's day and one smile can brighten the world. Louis Armstrong was on to something when he sang, “When you’re smiling the whole world smiles with you.” Smile! Spread Happiness!