BOWAworld

The Power Of Smiling

by Bert Oliva

A 2010 Wayne State University research project that examined the baseball card photos of Major League players in 1952 found that the span of a player’s smile could actually predict the span of his life! Players who didn’t smile in their pictures lived an average of only 72.9 years, while players with beaming smiles lived an average of 79.9 years.

We are actually part of a naturally smiling species. We can use our smiling powers to positively impact almost any social situation. And smiling is really good for us.

Surprisingly, we’re actually born smiling. 3-D ultrasound technology now shows that developing babies appear to smile even in the womb. After they’re born, babies continue to smile (initially mostly in their sleep) and even blind babies smile in response to the sound of the human voice.

A smile is also one of the most basic, biologically uniform expressions of all humans. Paul Ekman (the world’s leading expert on facial expressions) discovered that smiles are cross-cultural and have the same meaning in different societies. In studies he conducted in Papua New Guinea, Ekman found that members of the Fore tribe (who were completely disconnected from Western culture and were also known for their unusual cannibalism rituals) attributed smiles to descriptions of situations in the same way you and I would.

Smiling is not just a universal means of communicating, it’s also a frequent one. More than 30% of us smile more than 20 times a day and less than 14% of us smile less than 5 times a day. In fact, those with the greatest superpowers are actually children, who smile as many as 400 times per day!

So now we know that:
When you smile, you look good and feel good.
When others see you smile, they smile too.
When others smile, they look good and feel good, too.
So now, whenever you want to look great and competent, improve your marriage, or reduce your stress…or whenever you want to feel as good as when you’ve enjoyed a stack of high quality chocolate without incurring the caloric cost…or as if you randomly found 25 grand in the pocket of a jacket you hadn’t worn for ages… or when you want to tap into a superpower and help yourself and others live longer, healthier happier lives…SMILE.

Until next time.