What makes you smile? What brings you happiness or even just a moment of joy? Smiling, laughing and playing in life is so important for maintaining positive mental health. Somehow, as we move into adulthood we begin to take things so seriously and forget to take time to laugh and play every day. It's something we do so naturally as children but lose sight of as we grow older, which impacts us in so many negative ways.
I remember watching a visualization video (link below) years ago where they included a statement saying "I take time to laugh and play every day." That really stuck with me because I had stopped doing that. I was working full time and working to achieve whatever it was I was focused on at that point and wasn't playing at all. All work, no play. At that point I made a promise to myself that I was going to make it a priority to chase my smiles in life.
But what does that mean exactly? For different people it is different things. So, it is important that you know what makes you smile and brings that joy into your life. It can be spending time with certain people or doing certain activities or hobbies. Ultimately, chasing your smiles is just doing things that feel fun for you! What is most important is that you are making time to do fun things and that when you schedule fun time, do not cancel on yourself. We do that way too often -- make plans to take care of ourselves and then cancel it to take care of someone else. It's important that you make time for yourself in a lot of different ways but fun time is by far the most fun way to take care of yourself!
They have done research on how smiles impact our physical health (link below). Smiles literally reduce heart rates and stress levels, even if they are fake smiles! The researchers had participants put chopsticks in their mouths to simulate a smile and by engaging the muscles of the face in a smiling manner, their stress levels decreased! What?! 🤯Just imagine how much ACTUAL smiling and laughing impacts your health! Now, I challenge you, go out and chase some smiles!!
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Visualization Tools from The Secret: Video Playlist | The Secret - Official Website
Research on smiles: The Science of Smiling: The Anatomy and Function of a Smile (visiblebody.com)
Erin B. Patterson, LCMHCS, NCC
Patterson Psych Group, PLLC