A sweet story for you...

I got a text message yesterday from my best friend from college (also mentioned in a blog post yesterday..Meredith is becoming quite the celebrity). She told me she was running downtown Burlington and she ran by a man who was homeless and he said to her "Where's your smile?" What a beautiful moment to share with another person, and it really does remind you that the day isn't all that bad.

Two years ago, I was living in Burlington during the summer and I had gone to get a cup of coffee for a friend and myself. I had walked by a woman on my way to the cafe and noticed she had a sign, but I didn't read it. She was talking to herself and I just walked by and ignored her, which I admit was wrong (but I've only been wrong like once or twice in my life...). On my way back to the food cart where my friend was working, I was walking by her again squinting at the sun and she said to me "Hey. It's ok to smile." That really made me think about how important it is to smile, because it benefits yourself and the others around you. You've probably heard that smiling at another person can brighten their day and alter their mood, but let's look at the other benefits of smiling...simply because we can.

It has been proven that smiling slows down your breathing, decreasing anxiety, helping you turn around a stressful moment (try to fall asleep smiling, maybe you'll have happy dreams?). Alongside that, decreased stress and anxiety means lower blood pressure, improved digestion, and regulates blood sugar. If you are a restaurant worker, smiling can mean better tips! When you are perceived to be happy, you help others feel emotionally and physically "in place" in their surroundings. Smiling can also be expressed over the phone, the person on the other end can sense that you are smiling! (http://www.livestrong.com/article/18859-health-benefits-smiling/)

Go to this website to read only good news all the time, since newspapers and news channels can really stress us out with all the negativity. I guess if it bleeds it reads...but this website seeps HAPPINESS and joy. http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

-Jackie