Pursuing Growth: Project 2 : Chocolate Factory Week 1

Smile facts:

One smile creates the same amount of brain stimulation as 2000 bars of chocolate.
Smiling changes our hormone composition from hormones associated with unpleasant stress to hormones associated with confident happiness.

Two muscle groups are used to smile. The mouth smile uses the Zygomatic muscles and the eyes use the orbiculars oculi. By the age of 10 months we have learned to do a fake social smile which uses only the Zygomatic mouth muscles. Smiles which get the brain going to the 2000 chocolate bar level include both Zygomatic and the orbiculars oculi which circle the eyes.

 

Our project for the next two weeks is simply to smile with all your muscles for a few minutes each day

Objections to smiling:

What will people think? I don’t know what they will think but I know what they will do. They will smile back. It is a built-in response. You will be giving out 2000 chocolate bars for free. (Free bags of calorie free chocolate bars, – not a bad way to love your neighbor.) Actually I know what they will think, too. Studies indicate that smiling people are thought of as confidant and they attract others to themselves.

But I don’t feel happy. We have a strong culture bias for ‘natural’ happiness as opposed to ‘synthetic’ happiness which we create ourselves. This bias is, well, just plain stupid. The ability to manufacture our own happiness is one of God’s great gifts to us. Synthetic (self-manufactured) happiness is more valuable to us than ‘natural’ happiness. Take findings that Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert discusses. He asks us, “Would you rather win the lottery or become paraplegic?” When it come to happiness, after a year it doesn’t matter which you choose. Really. Researcher Sonya Lyubomirsky has demonstrated that happiness is only 10% influenced by our circumstances, 50% is genetic make up and the other 40% is in our power to manufacture. So manufacture some happiness and smile.

Sculpting project: Chocolate Factory Week 1

Smile with your mouth and your eyes for a few minutes each day.

Tip: I posted a reminder note at my sink to remind me. This has helped me remember.