Smiley Melanie is back with another Saturday post! If you are following her blog you know at least one reason she has to smile! Melanie has other reasons for smiling and she wants to know what your reasons are! Join the conversation- jump in anywhere!

As the blogger from “Smiley Melly” I thought it only appropriate to touch on smiling as a guest post topic. I think smiling is so important in life. Nothing can quite cure a bad day like a genuine smile. It is one of those things that you can give away over and over and yet still have it.

When starting to write this post I began to reflect on things that really make me smile. I tend to smile often but I think there is a difference between a from-the-heart-to-the-eyes smile and a smile that you just plaster on your lips. Those moments that evoke a smile from deep within are special and tend to be more rare (for me at least!).

You might be thinking that we just smile when we are happy and that they can be one in the same, but I think differently. I’m generally a happy person. I choose happiness whenever I can, but that does not always mean I’m smiling. I think a smile is a step above happiness like crying is a step past sad. It’s a higher state of happiness where your body can’t help but tell the world, “I’m SO happy right now that I cannot contain it.”

Smiling can reflect inner happiness, but it is also a great way to give happiness to others. I find it very hard not to feel my spirits lifted when someone shoots over a genuine and bubbly smile. It makes me more conscious of smiling at others when I can. It helps me to think I may make someone’s day. The ripple effect of a simple smile can go a long way.

The power of a smile is so strong that often I might force the smile just a bit to tell my body and soul that I’m choosing happiness today even if I’m not fully feeling it. The choice to put a smile on instead of a frown can often trick me into slowly feeling that happiness spread. Maybe it ties back to making people smile back at me which in turn makes me want to smile all the more. It’s a beautiful, powerful circle that’s a joy to spread (and a way to spread joy?)

Do you smile often? What made you smile this week? Have you tried the smile-until-you-feel-it method?

photo credit: Marion