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When I first came to the US, one of the things that I instantly loved about this country was- everyone smiles! People that I knew, people that I barely knew, random people that I did not know- on the bus, on the train, in the hallways, even if not all of them, a lot of them greeted with a beautiful smile. Only then I realized the immense power of this small gesture named smile- in a lot of cases it not only made my day seem brighter, but it also made all those people who smiled seem more beautiful!
The question is, do we always feel like smiling? It can be a bad hair day, it can be a "Murphy's law" day, it can be a day when we just want to keep ourselves to us, not interacting with the world! Do we force ourselves to smile then? Do we fake it until we make it?
It is not only evident by spiritual philosophy, but it is also scientifically proven. In the 'Directions in Psychiatry' Volume 16, Lesson 25 (Physiological effects of the smile- Mark G Frank, Phd, and Paul Edman, Phd), it is mentioned that- "Thus, Ekman and Davidson were able to show that one could produce brain activation patterns of positive emotion by simply asking subjects to pose smile with the Duchenne marker." (Duchenne marker is contracting eye muscles while smiling, while Non Duchenne marker of smile is only contracting cheek muscles).
September, my birthday month went by in a happy haze of fitness classes, lots of cooking, marathon phone calls catching up with friends and continued conversations, some work and a birthday I am absolutely grateful for. I spent any free time binge-watching Hawaii Five-O on Amazon Prime.
Each class leaves me feeling positive, refreshed and grateful. And I look forward to the next class. Yes, initially there were achy muscles but you know what happens when you wake up sleeping parts of the body. I especially appreciate Janaki for helping with stretches to overcome these aches. In fact, the fitness class is the highlight of my month.
When I told my friend, she asked if I would learn the exercises and do them on my own later. I had to laugh because the main thing that keeps me going is the group. Fitness works best when we buddy up. I am grateful for this group of dedicated ladies.
Again, I am grateful for my family being at home. Stressful times for many things, but together, we shall overcome them eventually. I am so happy that I had long phone calls with close friends. Nothing makes me smile more than when I am listening to their voices and swearing with them!
I spent much of the month offline, minimizing social media (except for posting on Instagram). I am cherishing my relationships, my hobbies and doing some writing. In short, I am behaving like it is the 90s and loving it.
The point of this exercise is to cherish events and people we normally tend to take for granted. When we dwell on our good fortune and our present condition in relation to how it could have otherwise been, it brings on a feeling of gratitude.
I must mention here that if our counterfactual thinking focuses on regrets and lost opportunities, and how things could have been better, we just end up being miserable. But when we remind ourselves that things could have been worse if we had not received a certain blessing in our lives, we experience gratitude.
Point is, let us never take things for granted. When we subtract a happy event or relationship in our imagination, we stop taking things for granted. When we shift the focus from the presence of a good thing to the possible absence of it, we appreciate it more.
Welcome! My mission is to make you smile. I enjoy writing about mindfulness, self help, books, parenting, health & wellness, travel, food, reflections, and experiences. Do enjoy browsing. On the last Thursday, every month, I host the Gratitude Circle blog hop. You are welcome to join.Brand collaborations welcome. Here's my contact form.Join my mailing list.Did you smile today? More about me
So glad you're here! I'd love to connect with you. My mission is to make you smile. I write about mindfulness, self help, books, parenting, health & wellness, travel, food, reflections, and experiences. Do enjoy browsing. On the last Thursday, every month, I host the Gratitude Circle bloghop. You are welcome to join.Brand collaborations welcome. Here's my contact form.Join my mailing list.Did you smile today? More about me
SMILE! Meticulously hand crafted earrings featuring a smiley devil face design by Nic Gregson brought to life in jewellery form. These are sterling silver with 18ct yellow gold teeth, rose gold horns, rose gold with yellow gold accent collar and 24ct gold inlaid eyes. They're both finished off with a bezel set round pink sapphire.
Okay ladies, lately I've been practicing picture taking with the FH (so our wedding photos come out decent lol). I don't know WHAT it is... but the man can not genuinly smile for ANYTHING (in a pic). The USMC has trained him to look pissed off in every picture he takes, don't ask me why! So now I am trying to get him to at least crack a nice smile, it is beautiful when it is genuine... but whenever we take a picture its this forced half grimace/smile thing. Ugh! What do I do with him! Any of you ladies have trouble with your husbands in this department? The first photo was taken pre USMC...but the second picture is what I am getting these days lol!!
FS takes terrible pictures. It doesn't matter if he looks perfect and smiley when the picture is taken, when you look at it his eyes are half closed and he looks SO serious and mean. The picture of me on his back is SO cute because its a real and genuine smile (he was dropping me and was laughing about it lol) but others just turn out like the second picture.. (dont mind how hideous I look in it either, we were getting rained on and walking lol)
My hubby is the same way, getting him to smile in a picture is like pulling teeth. However, on our wedding day, he was all smiles, (except for a few pics) I don't think he could help himself. It's likely the special day will bring nothing but natural smiles to his face.
My hubby is always mean mugging in his pictures too, I told him that we were paying a lot of money for our wedding pictures and I didn't want him to look like he mad or unhappy in all of them! LOL! He actually did pretty good! A lot of it is about the personality of your photog. Hopefully your photog can get your FH to relax and feel comfortable. It will help a lot if they have good chemistry together. That's one thing I really liked about my photog, I had a really good feeling after I met him, and sure enough, after some initial awkwardness, my husband saw how unthreatening our photog was and relaxed and enjoyed our pictures!
Yowza Betsy! Your honey is a hottie in that first picture!!! Show him the comparison in these 2 pics...he looks like a totaly different person!!! Like others have said, I think his smile will come naturally on that day. Photogs are also good at taking pics when the bride and groom least expect it. Without-a-doubt they should be able to get some great candid smiles in there for you!
I have the opposite problem. My FH has what I call a "Mentos" smile. He has these huge pearly white teeth and takes great pictures. I, on the other hand, am always trying to position my face in a certain way to get the "good" angle. It's better now since I've had lingual braces and I'm not as self-conscious about smiling but before I was much like your FH and hated smiling in pics.
Maybe it's a guy thing because my FH has no military affiliation and check out the smile in the profile pic. when he smiles genuinely, it's so cute, but you can totally tell when he's forcing it... =/
Bahaha...sorry, my FH does the same thing! The first pic is very nice...the second, he looks possessed. LOL I don't know what to do with mine either. He and his son are the same way, and his son (16) is going to be his best man...so I'll have 2 goons not smiling. I love when he does really smile or laugh, he has such a great smile...even if its just a "shit eatin grin". He's very self concious of his teeth, that's his problem. Nonetheless it's very frustrating. I'm going to be very mad if he ruins my wedding pictures. lol
Everything in our new wrap captivates with delicacy! The light beige color of the wrap fits perfectly with its lightness and flexibility. True to its name, this cute, laughing wrap is a wonderful combination, vegan wool and organic cotton blend like rich chocolate with good coffee and ice in a refreshing mocca frappe! This sweet combination is a great choice for everyone in love with our smiley wraps!
Our Vegan wool is enviromental friendly, clinically tested yarn, it has s certificate of release to use from the first day of life. It is very soft and at the same time strong, light, breathable, very good for allergy suffers.
But it is not everything! Thanks to your love and the content of the magical Sleepy Dust, each child will also find their own piece of heaven in your arms! This wrap is super soft and cozy, thanks to which it will take care of your baby's delicacy from the first moments of his life. We guarantee - you will be surprised by its softness and capacity.
Our draw wraps have special prices - if not all of them are sold out during this draw, they will be available in our online store, but at higher prices. Therefore, if you also fell in love with our shiny wrap - be sure to let us know!
Send a Smile by uploading videos or pictures for veteran residents at the Southern and Northern Nevada State Veterans Homes. We will compile these files to run on the closed-circuit TV at the Homes for all to see. We will update as new files are uploaded, so there is no deadline.
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