Less than a second. 

That’s all the time you need to squint your eyes and curve your mouth into what we call a smile. Enough with the “I don’t have enough time” or “I’m too lazy.” Smiling requires minimal time AND effort and also comes with a plethora of remarkable outcomes. Here’s an acronym to remember why smiling is so great: 

Let’s start with unity, shall we? First of all, there is such an easy sense of unity when people smile. Imagine if we were to gather a group of five people who each speak different languages. One speaks English, another speaks Mandarin, another Tagalog, another speaks French, and the last one Japanese. Clearly, none of them would understand each other. However, smiling is one of the only acts that has the ability to break any and all barriers between them. It quite literally functions as its own language. 

Joy! Something that we all seek as humans in our daily lives, in hope that one day we will never feel any emotions besides this one. Obviously, we all know that joy and smiling directly correlate with one another. When someone feels joy, they smile! 

Now, let’s dig into the science of it. When one smiles, their brain releases molecules called neuropeptides which in addition, includes the release of “happy chemicals.” These consist of serotonin, dopamine, or endorphins. By doing this, pain and stress are relieved, blood pressure is lowered, and the immune system is strengthened, leading to a longer life. It turns out that the process that simply begins with a few muscle movements comes with long-term benefits that can only be achieved otherwise by medicine. 

Aside from personal benefits, smiling can also affect the people around you. Similar to the effect of a yawn, a smile can go a long way. Since it has the power of granting someone a longer life, you can single handedly extend a person’s life by smiling at them (assuming that they will smile back, but in a situation where they do not, do not be discouraged). Here, I present to you, an attempt to lengthen your life: 

I hope you are smiling. 

Last but not least, inclusivity. I find that people are constantly trying to cater to as big of an audience as possible when doing anything in life. Without a doubt, it would be ideal if everyone, no matter their age or background, could have access and understand all the same things. Yet, it is difficult to name one thing that is all-inclusive to absolutely EVERYONE. That is, with the exception of smiling. Even month-old babies whose brains have not developed enough to learn how to walk, are able to comprehend how to smile and its meaning. This would mean that a 70 year-old extremely devout Buddhist monk born and raised in Africa can share a smile with a teenage girl from America who has just gone through her emo-phase. No matter one’s origin, traditions, culture, nationality, or beliefs, everyone understands smiling. 

Besides all of the advantages that come from smiling, there could be a claim that there is a negative side to smiling as well. This claim states that excessive smiling is seen as suspicious or a sign of embarrassment in some cultures. Key word: excessive. Come on, this is not pleasant. 

It is crucial to note that nothing is ever considered good when done excessively. Eating excessively leads to obesity, exercising excessively leads to unhealthy weight loss, studying excessively causes exhaustion, going on devices excessively causes eye damage, etc. Therefore, smile. After all, it IS the best universal form of communication and requires less muscles than frowning does. 😆