Start the Year With a Smile!

Research has found that Facebook members who smile in their profile photos have around 15% more close friends than non-smilers.  Another analysis of Facebook uncovered that smilers tend to cluster with other smilers.

So what?

In the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2001, researchers from the University of California published a study on smiling in over 100 women whom they’d tracked for 31 years.
They reported that women who had bigger smiles in their college year book photos experienced fewer psychological and physical health problems, they had better relationships with others, and they scored higher on wellbeing at all ages tested over the three decades of the study.

Is this a chicken or egg scenario?  Were these women smiling because they had better lives or did the fact that they smiled more broadly and frequently actually have a bearing on their life experience?

Both.  We don’t just smile because we’re happy; we’re happy because we smile.  The act of smiling releases serotonin, endorphins and other feel-good chemicals in our brains that actually lift our mood.  It’s difficult to sustain negative thinking while we’re smiling.  If you ever find yourself in a pessimistic frame of mind, try smiling and it will short-circuit your thinking.  Another effect of smiling on the brain is that it increases our capacity to think globally and to broaden our focus.  We are less likely to feel stuck in a rut and more likely to come up with creative and holistic solutions.

Smiling also lowers blood pressure.  Next time you go to the doctor, smile for a minute before you have your blood pressure taken.  The reading will be lower than if you’d been frowning.

Notwithstanding cultural and social norms, we are biologically programmed to respond positively to someone smiling.  We perceive smilers to be more confident, competent and generous.  A study in 2001 by Scharlemann et al recorded that if you smile, your trustworthiness rating goes up by 10%!  The key to a trustworthy smile is not to rush it.  Allow at least half a second for it to spread across your face..

If you find yourself struggling to smile, surround yourself with smilers both on and offline.  Emotions spread very efficiently through online networks, so if your circle of contacts is filled with people who smile, you’ll unconsciously find yourself posting a smiling portrait of yourself very soon.

What’s your intention for 2010?

I woke up knowing it was going to be a good day.

A friend visiting from the Sunshine Coast had stayed at my place the previous night and after she drove off in the morning, I went for a short jog to pick up my car from where it was parked in a nearby suburb.  All the parking in my street is for a maximum of a few hours at a time, so the day before I’d moved my car from my undercover car parking spot so that she could park her car there overnight.  Meanwhile my car would be safe and sound in a leafy street 15 minutes jog away. 

When I arrived at my car, I noticed a small piece of paper caught under the windscreen wipers.  I put the piece of paper in my pocket to place in the recycling bin when I arrived home.  When I took the paper out again, I noticed it was a parking infringement notice for $50.  I looked at the date and noticed it was today’s date.  How strange.  Given that I’d checked very carefully to make sure there were no parking meters and no signs saying I couldn’t park in the street, the ticket obviously couldn’t be mine.  It must have blown off someone else’s car some distance away and landed on my windscreen.  The only thing contradicting this theory was the fact that my vehicle registration number was printed on the ticket.        

I was certain a quick call to Brisbane City Council would clear things up immediately.  After all, this was going to be a good day.   

The first thing I discovered was that a call to Brisbane City Council is never quick.  After pushing various buttons and wading through various unconcerned automated voices (which nonetheless professed to be concerned) I was finally greeted by the cheerful Mark.  I explained that an error had occurred in the issuing of a parking infringement notice. 

“No, there’s been no error.  You were in a 2 hour parking zone,” he said with the same level of concern as the automated voices.

“But there were no signs anywhere in the street saying it was a 2 hour parking zone.”  I knew I was right.

“The suburb of West End, where you parked your vehicle, is classified as a 2 hour parking zone unless otherwise stated.”

“But how am I supposed to know that?  At no time when I sat for my driver’s licence was I told I’d need mind-reading skills.”

“Surely you would have noticed the signs as you drove into the suburb, stating that West End was a 2 hour parking zone.”

“Surely if I’d noticed I wouldn’t have parked there for more than 2 hours.”

“Then it’s unfortunate you didn’t notice.”

A long pause ensued.

“Yes, it’s very unfortunate that I didn’t notice.  Thank you for letting me know.  I’ll certainly never park there again.  Given my remorse for breaking a rule I was unaware of, I’d like to ask that the penalty be waived.”

“I am in no position to make any decisions about your case.  If you want to take this further I suggest you write to the Appeals Review Officer.  The address is on the back of the infringement notice.”

So that’s exactly what I did. 

When I finished my A4 page-long letter outlining why my penalty should be waived, a rush of goodwill came over me and I added a Merry Christmas wish for all at Brisbane City Council.  As I was about to put the letter in an envelope, another rush of something came over me and I took out a Christmas card so that I could write a longer message of warmth to all at Brisbane City Council.  I stapled the letter to the card and immediately ran to the nearest post box. 

As I started walking home, I got the giggles.  I began to imagine what the person opening the card and letter would be thinking and started laughing even more.  Several passers by looked at me as though I were mad.  I laughed even harder at the thought of explaining to them why I was laughing and by the time I arrived home I’d completely lost it.  I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much. 

I’d set out to dispute the injustice of a situation and to try and avoid paying a $50 fine I didn’t think I deserved.  I also did it because I’d decided at the start of the day it was going to be a good day.  That meant I was going to be proactive about making it good – both consciously and subconsciously.

I don’t care any more if I end up having to pay the fine or not.  The laugh was worth it.  And it was a cheap price to pay to be reminded of the power of intention.   

What’s your intention for 2010?