The Rewards of Smile

THE REWARDS OF SMILE

Last night, as I was crossing the street, I came upon a beggar.  The man was wearing a pale dhoti and had a withered, starving stomach. He had large, pink, peeling blisters on his bare feet, needing a pair of slippers to combat the hotness of the afternoon heat.

Seeing me pass by the path puzzled him, and he threw a genuine glad smile, revealing a couple of remaining teeth stained brown from betel biting. His horrible visage had at once been replaced with a lovely oval form. Smiling is one of the best beauty remedies.

Smiling is an innate feature of human beings, and their smiles don't change according to regional or cultural differences as languages do. A smile is the most universal language that everyone knows. Even doctors now believe that smiling is not a learned behavior; rather, studies suggest that growing babies smile while still in the womb. Fascinating! Isn’t it?

Charles Darwin’s facial expression hypothesis shows: Happiness is what makes us smile and the reverse can also be true. A smile spurs a powerful chemical reaction in the brain that can make humans feel happier. It releases certain hormones including dopamine which is a happiness-boosting chemical and serotonin which is associated with reduced stress.

Darwin's theory was further supported by data from 138 investigations collected over 50 years by Coles and colleagues. A study involving almost 11,000 participants discovered that emotions are influenced by facial expressions. While a smile makes people happy, a scowl makes people angrier, and a frown makes them sadder. Period.

According to estimates, a smile may make us as happy as receiving or eating 2,000 bars of chocolate or winning Rs. 15 lakh! So, as long as we have a useful instrument in our hands, we don't need material things to be happy.

Who wouldn't want to live a long and happy life? No one. Right? And the greatest treatment for it is a smile. Harvard Health Publishing claims that smiling can reduce the danger of dying young. The National Academy of Science's publication Proceedings guarantees that those who smile will have a longer life span.

My encounter with that ugly, unshaven, smiling face did force my cheeks to form a smile. The words of Dr. Eva Ritzo, a co-author of “The Beauty Perception,” made much sense now: “Smiling is contagious. This is because we have mirror neurons that fire when we see action." Despite our condition, a smile can mean so much more than a simple facial movement.

From the nearest shop, I bought a pair of chapels and gave it to the poor beggar, which made his smile last even longer. “It’s just a monetary reward for your smile." I said that and got back on my way.