No one can refute that gorgeous smiling is contagious to those it touches. Think about it—who wants to be spending quality time around someone who refuses to give you a smile? That’s just not happening around my office, ever. So, do me a precious favor—stretch your lips gently, lift your cheeks towards your eyes and feel your face warm up as your teeth begin to shine through the opening of your mouth. Doesn’t that feel terrific?  For a continuous remedy against having a bad day, repeat this motion six times an hour at a minimum. Doctor’s orders! If you want to have an even quicker recovery from something that’s not making you feel happy, then add a few chuckles, laughs and giggles to this prescription. It’s amazing how quickly a recovery can take place.

 

Be A Kid Again

How many times a day do you think you smile? Do you have an actual number? I am sure you think you smile many more times than you actually do. Studies show that children smile about 400 times a day. Adults, however, smile an average of over 20 times a day. A woman is believed to smile about 60 times a day, but a man is believed to smile only 8. If you think you smile a lot more, it’s probably because you’re remembering your childhood.

Why do we smile less? Stress in our lives causes us to smile less. We’re too busy trying to put out fires, meet deadlines, manage studies or programs, plan things and deal with relationships. Who has time to smile? Children don’t have to deal with these stresses in life on a daily basis. That’s why we all have to make a concerted effort to smile. It’s healthy, too.

 

It’s The Best Medicine

How healthy can a smile be for us? A study done by the British Dental Health Foundation found that while smiling improves mood, it also has secondary consequences. Smiling improves the mood of people around you. This could be noted as “second-hand smiling”. Research also shows that a smiling person is judged to be more pleasant, attractive, sincere, sociable and competent than a non-smiling person. Smiling has also been shown to lower blood pressure, relieve stress and boost our immune systems. It releases hormones such as endorphins, natural pain-killers and serotonin. These three hormones help to make us feel good.

 

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Dale Carnegie, the famous motivational speaker, stated that smiling wins friends and influences people. I don’t think anyone can argue with the success of Dale Carnegie’s teachings. There’s more to your smile than just curling your lips and showing your teeth, and knowing the ins and outs could be the difference between winning and losing. There are statistics that show how a smile can be an asset. In fact, 99.7% of adults say that an attractive smile is an important personal asset.

 

Do you believe you have an attractive smile? 74% of adults believe that an unattractive smile can hurt a person’s chance for success. Is your smile contributing to your mixed results with business or career success? Only 63% of people say they look best in photos when they show their teeth for a photograph. How do your photographs look to you? Your smile should be winning friends and influencing people.

 

A famous study followed women for 30 years to learn of their well-being. Those that had been photographed smiling in their college yearbooks went on to have happier marriages and a greater well-being. In the same study, strangers’ judgments were made about the photographs from the yearbook which assumed that the smiling photographs indicated more positive moods and greater competence than the students who displayed no smile in their photographs.

 

This is a powerful message. People can judge expectations of a person simply by observing a photograph. Anyone who intends to follow the pageant and modeling circuit learns early on of the power of a smile and the power of a photograph that displays the smile. The smile is a natural and effective part of career success, especially for someone who will be seen frequently in the public eye.

 

Quit Stressing Out

Did you know your smile can help you avert stressful situations? Reports show that when an employee smiles at a dissatisfied customer, but expresses good listening skills, most of the time there is a conclusion that is satisfactory for the customer. It has also been known that when someone in distress smiles, the other person tends more often to assist the person in distress. Someone who stands 300-feet away from a smiling person can easily recognize this most obvious facial expression. Ladies, if you think makeup is the best solution for attractiveness, a study conducted by Orbit Complete discovered that 69% of people find women more attractive when they smile compared to when they are just wearing makeup.

 

In other studies, women were selected in three out of four choices to have the appearance of being younger and more beautiful when they smiled. Without a doubt, a confident and natural smile is the best way to attract the people you want to be noticing you.

 

Don’t Be Such A Phony

Can people tell if your smile is fake? Simple answer— yes. French anatomist Guillaume Duchenne learned more than 150 years ago that true smiles involve the muscles around the eyes as well as the muscles around the lips. Any smile that falls short of this “sweetness of the soul” is fake.

 

In a real smile, your eyebrows dip downward slightly and crow’s feet will form around your eyes as you expose your teeth. A fake smile does not express these muscles and can also last much longer to the point of appearing uncharacteristically forced in many situations. It is important to avoid all means of expressing a fake smile. A fake smile indicates deceit and insincerity, worsens mood and displays negative emotion. This type of smile does not help to increase success.

 

For all competitors in modeling, pageants and the business world, your smile should always be sincere and come from your heart. Fake smiles do not come from the heart and do not show a connection to your audience, peers or business executives. Writer George Eliot stated: “Wear a smile and have friends, wear a scowl and have wrinkles.” I choose to smile and have friends. The patients in my practice love to see us smile. It is contagious! The rewards are much more infinite. Often times it’s the smile I get in return that makes me feel so fantastic.

 

When you visit us in Lake Mary, Florida, or if you notice me at a competition, don’t forget to smile at me. I will be smiling at you! My gift to others is creating and delivering beautiful smiles where there was little or none to begin with. Your gift to me is shining your smile for me. It energizes me and lets me know that what I do is well worth my life’s devotion. Keep smiling and keep winning new friends and relationships.

 

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