Scientifically speaking, smiling is good for you. It reduces stress, pain and blood pressure and strengthens your immunity. That’s four good reasons to turn that frown upside down, if only to save on medical costs.
So now we’ve found something that’s both healthy and free, let’s see how we can do a lot more of it by uncovering the top 10 things that make people smile the most, according to a survey commissioned by Smile Train.
10. A good joke
Okay, what’s smile-worthy to one is a lead balloon to another, but it’s the way you tell ’em, as they say, and joke-telling earned itself a place in the top ten, according to one-fifth of the survey’s participants.
9. Spending time with kids
Let’s be honest, we can learn a lot from kids. Hang out with the little monkeys for any length of time and tax returns will seem like a world away.
8. Spending time with your significant other
And who could forget those other happiness-inducing humans? It turns out they too come with clear health benefits.
7. Someone smiling back at you
The only way to appreciate this one is to imagine the complete opposite. An unreturned smile is like fighting with your umbrella in the wind: you just really wish you hadn’t bothered.
6. Watching a funny video
So if you’re wondering why we’re addicted to social media, then there’s your proof: all those posted clips and memes are keeping the scowls at bay.
5. Good food
Top chefs already knew this. It seems that the way to our hearts really is through our stomachs.
4. Being healthy
It’s about time our state of health got a mention. And the older you get, the further up the list it tends to move.
3. Watching a good movie
First videos and now movies… Not that we’re a bunch of square-eyed addicts! At least we’ve now got a good reason to be couch potatoes.
2. Being alive
And in second place, having narrowly escaped being beaten by ‘Watching a good movie’, is… being alive. God will indeed be flattered.
1. Nice weather
It says something about our obsession with nice weather that it trumps even being alive, but 37% of the survey participants put the elements at the top of their reasons to smile.
And on that sunny note, what would your smile list look like?
Comments