Sometimes our face expresses what our mind is thinking and not what we intend to feel 🙂 Being at peace with ourselves and our surroundings naturally brings a smile on our face. When someone tells you to smile more, it fundamentally means you are getting a feedback that you are going through stressful times and it is reflecting on your face.

Recently I got to read about Sri Rama and his virtues. There were some qualities that I could resonate with, and some impossible to have. One that triggered my thought process and I chose to emulate was to smile. Irrespective of the hurdles he faced in life, he always retained a smile on his face.

Is it really possible that we can continue to retain the smile on our face even during hard times? I tried to experiment whether this was possible.

I tried to take a selfie when I am going through a stressful time… invariably end up smiling 🙂 and that smile is sufficient to trigger a positive emotion!

Took me over six months to consciously get there! I shared a selfie during one of my most stressful times with my friends (without letting them know what I was going through). Their comments revolved around how calm I was looking, lovely smile, etc. It worked! We can train ourselves to retain that smile on our faces..!

Be it raindrops on roses, beautiful flowers or sceneries, mountains or lakes, or a glass of cold water, clean towels to use, washed utensils, hugging your child….and whatever be your list (write it down and keep it handy) any of these small pleasures can bring a smile on our faces! Sustaining it is hard – as we tend to get back to reality right afterward! However, slowly and steadily our face does not reflect the stressful day, it will naturally switch over to a smile, making it easier to process it and come out of it.

For some of us, we tend to be ever-smiling (our own perception). However, those who see us might feel and tell us otherwise. When the smile is visible on our faces, the warmth is felt by those around us!

It is a progressive process… when you trigger a change to smile often and others still say you feel stressed, understand that you might be progressively getting there.. just not there yet..!

We feel we are smiling -> Our face exhibits our smile -> Others see we are smiling -> Others feel the warmth of our smile 🙂

Realizing, understanding and accepting that we are doing our best in any given situation helps to have a visible smile that others can see!

Especially, if you are stepping into leadership roles – retaining a smile on your face becomes harder & yet a necessity!