photo credit: dotbenjamin

How about it, do you have some everyday pleasures that make you grin & help you “fake it until you make it”?

I wonder if any of you saw the TV episode of The Dog Whisperer in which Cesar Milan puts a leash on a dog’s tail!  Huh??  Yes, a leash on a dog’s tail.  Here’s the back story:  The shy dog was raised in rural Riverside, CA and then adopted by a man who lived in a downtown Long Beach. The confused dog was freaked-out by the city traffic, the noises, the helter-skelter of congested sidewalks.  He was in an ever vigilant state and cowered at every noise, every movement, everything! Poor thing. Hoping to rehabilitate the retiring pup, the new owner called in Cesar who tried something he’d never tried before – take a look:

Smile Though Your Heart Is Breaking

That particular (weird but interesting) show got me to thinking about an article I recently saw at Scientific American online:

This February psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is compromised by cosmetic Botox injections are happier, on average, than people who can frown.

Researchers concluded:

It would appear that the way we feel emotions isn’t just restricted to our brain—there are parts of our bodies that help and reinforce the feelings we’re having.  It’s like a feedback loop.

So, you see, acting As If You Were Happy can actually make you feel happier!  The act of smiling makes us feel good and the act of frowning makes us feel bad…  That’s an extraordinary finding and we can use it to advantage whenever we’re feeling low.

A Few of My Favorite Things

No, I’m not proposing that we all get Botox treatments…  And I don’t think pasting fake smiles on our faces so we can walk around gritting our teeth is a good idea either. Instead let’s each of us create our own list of favorite things.  Why?  Because even the scientists caution, “…to really lift your mood you need to make sure that your smile is a real one. So rather than just deliberately grinning, try to bring to mind some things that really make you smile…”

Julie Andrews, in The Sound of Music, claimed these:

• Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
• Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
• Brown paper packages tied up with strings
• Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
• Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
• Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
• Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
• Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
• Silver white winters that melt into springs
• These are a few of my favorite things
• (YouTube video)

And though I’m not as poetic as Rogers & Hammerstein, here are a few things that put a silly grin on my face:

• A cell phone recording of my at-the-time 3 year old grandson’s little-boy-voice spontaneously blurting out “It’s great fun at your house!”
• The comic section of my daily newspaper – especially Rose is Rose and Adam at Home.
• The TV ad: “When I grow up I want to be an old woman.”  (Oh yeah, and October is Breast Health month.  Take it from me, a breast-cancer-survivor, 7–years-and-counting, get your annual mammogram!)
• And most especially, comments and emails from our BouncebackCafe.com readers!

Dr. Jerome Brunner, American psychologist and educator tells us that “You are more likely to act yourself into feelings than to feel yourself into action.”  So, don’t think about putting on a happy face – instead, bring to mind your favorite things and then, sappy grin on face, act as if you’re happy!

Let us know about some of YOUR every-day pleasures that make you grin and help you “fake it until you make it!”