Some moments these days I feel like there is not much to smile about. I am doing what I can to manage my emotions, respond rather than react, hold a compassionate, caring vision rather than slip into fear, anger, or helplessness.  

So what’s with a post that suggests a smile?  In my inbox this morning  I discovered this: “If you’re having a good time, notify your face!”  I smiled, actually laughed out loud when I read it 🙂  (It was an anecdote in the DailyOm.com, a lovely site which I’m currently exploring.)  

Smile 🙂  It is well established that when we laugh, or even smile, there is a whole range of neurological connections and associations in our minds and bodies that are nothing but healthy, having a startling number of benefits.  Let the smile sink in, really feel, enjoy the moment: savor the flavor!  This deepens the good, takes it to a cellular level.

Another vital piece of info is that we don’t have to have a reason to smile or laugh…i.e even if we don’t feel cheery, we can smile anyway, these days, any day! It can actually be a practice:  just smile, for the heck of it; just laugh because it occurs to you.  The benefits are the same.  (There is a laughing yoga practice, and even a laughter university!) 

One could say these are dark times.  That is certainly a legitimate perspective.  I have two offerings at this juncture.  One from my dear bro, a scientist, realist.  So when he talks about hope, I like to listen.  

Jim says:  “Here is my only real rational vision for how this can work out well!  In the vernacular its called “unexpected consequences”, but the rigorous (provable) basis is in non-linear dynamics (= “chaos theory”) –   With complex systems composed of certain types of interactions – as the world certainly is – we know for certain that discrete actions in the present cause consequences that are entirely unpredictable in the future.

Even an action which seems certain to move  something one way can surprisingly quickly turn it exactly the opposite way.  This we know. This is always a mixed blessing, I hasten to add, since it also means that any of the things that we do that we think are good and will help, may not do so. As we have seen in the last year or two!  

The emergence of Trump can be seen as such a path.The response however is also hopeful, which is that a good and the only solution to controlling a trajectory in complex nonlinear dynamics, is constant correction and adjustments to constant keep trying to push things in the right direction. One can call it Adaptive Management.  We are in one of these moments now, for sure!!  

And other is something I wrote last year, soon after the election.  It was a reminder to myself and others that a lot is going on right now, and a great deal of it is heartwarming, encouraging, and downright thrilling!  Another smile 🙂 

“Even after the recent election, and in this dark time of our history as a species, this time of exploitation and greed, of great dying out and killing off, of excessive consumption and shameful waste, we can help ourselves and each other to remember the countless and deeply encouraging signs of compassion, sanity, balance — innumerable shifts toward more sustainable ways of being and making our way forward. 

May these signs and actions swell to a tidal wave of change for the benefit of all beings, a veritable coming of the light.  Let us all be part of this vital coming in any and all ways we can.  I take courage and heart from Howard Zinn’s essay, On Getting Along. Bless him, and all of those, of us, working to make the world a better place, in ways large and small. “

In closing, it is important to remember the interconnectedness – of everything with everything.  Our thoughts, intentions, actions, have a vibrational effect on the whole world.  It really matters what we tell ourselves, including our face 🙂

Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity.  BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, and growth.  Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume.  Your feedback, forwards, tweets, likes are most welcome.