May has arrived and hopefully, weather-wise at least, this month heralds a glorious summer (though snow has been known in Wales on a few occasions!).
May has been designated International Smile Month and there is also a World Smile Day on the first Friday of October every year, the one where the internationally recognised Yellow Smiley emoji, a symbol of good will and good cheer, comes into its own. The message is to encourage smiles, and therefore well-being, by acts of kindness throughout the world. But should we limit this admirable concept to just one day or begin practising for October 2022 right now?
Apparently it takes 44 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile! Therefore people who frown a lot stand to get wrinkly and crinkly more quickly, so not overworking our facial muscles is another good reason for wearing a smile. A transforming smile is contagious and indicates to others that we are happy to see them. Also sunny smiles are beneficial to our health: as the old proverb says, “A merry heart does us good like medicine”. Scientific studies claim that if we smile when we don’t feel like it, our mood will be lifted despite ourselves, and we will feel happier.
Of course this is not a cure-all for every situation (like overwhelming grief for example) but it can get many of us over a small dose of the blues, help lift an unwelcome sense of sadness when there seems little to smile about. War, pandemics, poverty, injustice, and difficult personal situations rob us of our inner peace.
Music and singing which cheer are often therapeutic as they bring us joy promoting a” feel–good” factor. Dame Vera Lynne, who recently died aged 103, sold over a million records of her encouraging wartime songs which lifted the spirits of our troops in the last war (everyone’s favourite and the title of her memoirs is, “KEEP SMILING THROUGH” .
So what else can help raise a smile? Well humour often does, and though it maybe won’t take our troubles away it may make us switch our smiles back on.
Here’s some funny “kid’s-stuff” that may do it:
| TEACHER: Ffion go to the map and find North America . FFION: Here it is. TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ? CLASS: Ffion TEACHER: Elin, name one really important thing we have today that we didn’t have ten years ago. ELIN: Me! TEACHER: David, tell me, do you say grace before meals? DAVID: No sir, I don’t have to, my Mam is a good cook. TEACHER: Tomos, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested? TOMOS: A teacher And this one may make you smile the most . . . TEACHER: Rachel, what are you drawing? RACHEL: A picture of God. TEACHER: But nobody knows what God looks like. RACHEL: They will when I’ve finished my picture. |
| So how can we encourage smiles and cause our anti-stress endorphins to kick in? A good start may be to have a sing-along with the old Morcambe and Wise signature tune: “Bring me sunshine in your smile . . .” |
