As another year passes and International Smile Month closes, it is time to reflect and express thanks for the interest and to all who joined in. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like much just to smile each day, though many found it was great to begin the day with. At first finding the smile in the afternoon was hard for some to remember the focus, though as the month meandered along, it became a challenge and a fun game to play to look for the benefits of what could result in the day.

With this type of focus, it became easier and had more value to continue and for those that were devoted to the everyday experience…a change occured in knowing the value of the smile. For those that were drop ins, not practicing everyday, they remarked that it helped them to remember to smile more and that there was more to smiling that just turning the lips up.

Whether you were all in it, just stopping by or simply amused by the effort, I hope it made you smile more and give notice to how effective your smileage could be. I bet you might even be putting more smiles in your miles as a result!  Thank you for joining in and sharing your smiles with us and in the world!  This little campaign made a difference and will continue to as long as folks like you enjoy it and pass it along!

Keep the spirit going all year long by taking those smile ideas and practicing it at the beginning, middle or end of each month! Keep it going and keep it growing…. Until next year….Smile Awhile!

Join us August 2012 for the 4th Annual International Smile Month!

http://www.followthelaughter.com/SmileCampaign.htm

For more information Contact: Lynda@youcansayyes.com

You can also be the orchestrator of the Smile Pile too. Begin at home and heap on the smiles. Do an overview of the whole month in summary and heap the happy into your pile. Pile on ideas and thoughts that have come up. Stack up what you have discovered or even add a growing assortment of the smiles you have collected throughout. Sweep them all together and do the swimming pool backward fall into the pile and role around in it absorbing all the goodness that you created.

Own what you have created and know that at anytime at all, you just have to be curious and committed to a thing that brings about change and it will occur. Be happy about it and choose something joyful like the smile and what a contribution you make to yourself and to those you encounter.

Smile and change your situation, you may note how many other situations you alter along the way! Smile and the world smiles back!  From here on out you may discover, as the song goes, that you are never fully dressed without a smile!

For today….pile into the smiles!

Woohoo!

Your fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Egao – Smile in Japanese

They can be the physical words that convey the appearance such as curved, upturned, plump, expansive or note the size. These are the descriptive words that bring the muscles that create the movement from  all the thoughts and feelings into play when a smile appears. Note all the physical characterisitics of your smile and that of others encountered today. What makes up the physical appearance? Note that we don’t often know why a person smiles, and we may or may not find out what was behind it. We do however take what we see at face value because it is a generally pleasant experience. Discover with delight!

Behind what we do is the way we feel. Our emotions trigger what our face conveys. So write the words of emotion that make up your smile and like an artist, sit in a crowd and begin to see if you can note the emotions of other smiles too.  What we think is behind what we feel so consider while in personal observance or gaining the outward perspectives, log in what words might describe the thoughts that make up the feelings that bring the action of the smile into place.  What thoughts make you smile?

Finally behind the thoughts is the values we espouse and while this may be trickier to note the value of others, it is a wonderful opportunity to scribe or detail the words that make up what you are all about, what you believe and what you are. As you do you will pick out those words that bring the essence of what your smile is all about and in those words you may even discover a correlation or maybe even notice that path of your smile from what you value to what you think to what you feel to what you do. The resulting smile is full of words that describe all that and often never conveyed in this manner,

Your smile sure says a lot. When you look at a long list of what you have discovered, you will begin to see the power that is invested in what you show to the world and what inevitably you will receive back.

May the words be great and fill volumes of wonder in what you create!

Your fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Zâmbet – Smile in Romanian

Explore the many ways in which you can champion a cause, right a wrong or feel great by contributing. Smile with the bad guys and know you have the winning hand in all. Wear it as a confidence measure instead of a cocky pleasure and this smile will serve ways to shift and change even the negative self talk within.

Be playful in your beguilement and you will have fun discovering how to go beyond and get above the mental midgets and spoil sports and all in a dashing manner. There is an attractive quality to wearing a smile of beguile as you may be perceived as charming and witty. It will charm and disarm, though have in mind to dispell what does not serve yourself or humanity.

At the end of the day all the fun and play will be a wonderful memory, you will smile to do it another day because you know you can and you have. It is evidence that not only can you smile in the face of what doesn’t work, you can turn it around by using your smile and note what kind of a mood and motivation it puts you into to do so.  Explore and entertain yourself!

Your Fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Gülümseme – Smile in Turkish

Be expansive and let your smile grow. Find the height of your being today and bring it like you would an “A game”. Put your smile in whatever you do and make sure that everyone knows about your presence. You are hear to make a contribution and let it be noted by what you do and how you leave others feeling and wear a smile that is both comforting and powerful enough to convey this in one simple curvature action of your face lines.  Look about for others who may take on this same dymanic stance and enjoy knowing you are not alone, a smile is a connector and let it be that for you.

Whatever comes up today, be firm about what you know and kind about how you show it. Firm just means to own your position and why ever would anyone want to step away from a position that is on the money about what they know and is thinking with the world in mind? Stay the course and show conviction in your smile. As you observe today you will attract others who either are appreciative or like minded.

Have a powerful day of stepping into this smile and enjoy every moment!

Your fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Tabasami – Smile in Swahili

Today go reptilian! It is the place where we are most basic in our brain in the innermost center. It is where we act on impulse and base instinct and known as the basal ganglia, the ground floor level of our forebrain. This is an area instinctively known for agression, ritual and dominance. Aside from this base level is the paleomammilian area known as the limbic system known for our motivation and emotion. Finally the outer cortex is known as the neomammalian or neo cortex which is responsible for our language, planning and perception abilities.  These levels demonstrate the evolution of the brain.

Today let the smile be an instinctual response. Explore the basic smile all over your face and note your base or gut reactions to circumstances. In particular focus on the basic impulse to smile. Consider it the first of three levels and as conception of the smile is more understood for use in the other two levels, how do you understand it on the first level? Explore it’s first response and note where your Reptile Smile begins and ends.

More feeling comes from the Limbic area and higher thinking comes from the Neocortex, so forget thinking and feeling… today is just about doing it instinctively. Where are those moments in an ordinary day where it has become instincitive or a part of ritual?  Where and how does this come to you from others? In one sense it can be an exploration of what is automatic in your life now and what do you want to be more automatic. Consider how the smile plays into it as it can express a truth, which is more deep seated and part of your core.

Enjoy noticing the smile on autopilot. What do you like about it, and what will be adjusted?

Enjoy the ride and if you feel yourself slithering, it is only basic so slide into it!

Your Fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: nÚ cÚσi – Smile in Vietnamese

Chamomile is an herb that is associated with tea and relaxation. When put together with a smile it is a lovely way to spend a day relaxing into a smile. Let’s relax the body, mind and soul today and sip up the smiles that come our way. Feel free to gulp in where the beneficial moments arise. Like the tea, let today steep for a bit before diving in, though appreciate the wait and notice a patience and a knowledge that something rewarding is brewing.

Take in the day in this way, patient and relaxed knowing that something worth waiting for is just ahead. Rush to take it in and we can get burned, though wait and know this has been done before and it can serve to restrain the hurry for a bit. Let the smile form on the face in the same way, slowly sliding across with relaxation and knowing of what lies ahead.

Enjoy the day not rushing and discover the slow smile. For a moment sit quietly absorbing all around and when the rhythym of the breath is calm and flowing begin to spread a slow smile across the face, relaxed taking a good amount of time letting it grow. The result will be delicious and lasting! Take that out into the world and share it and observe the difference it makes in your day as well as that of others.

Note the easy pace of your smile and enjoy the slow growing grin!

Your Fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: χaμóγελo – Smile in Greek

Explore the variety as there are as many smiles for the multitude of occasions….the smile of surprise for instance, what is our style for expression of it? Take note of the many different instances and how many of our smiles can double for similar circumstances?  What we will be looking for is what kind of style does each smile require and reflect? Just a happy way to get to know more about the versatility we possess and to begin to note in what way we interact with others.

On the other hand, there is also the opportunity to delve into our personal style for ourselves and for a more general appearance. In our personal style, how relevant is our smile? Is it full and rich, authentic or powerful…. does it appear regularly or only on demand? When we begin to note our own styles, we also pick up on the many around us and simply ask…. is our style of smile based on what comes from within or our surroundings?

An age old question of nurture or nature… though getting to know who we are by something as simple as a smile can reflect a lot of depth. Smile and breathe into it!

Your Fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Tbissima – Smile in Maltese

Today enjoy the smiles of by gone days. Look back on what has shaped you and know the past is important to draw from, however not to dwell in. As you go about the day of finding your Erstwhile Smile, enjoy what has gone into the process of making it. Erstwhile means of the past and usually spoken of in the terms of “former”. So today in discovering what in the past has brought about today, consider the smile and what has made it the smile it is today.

Has it evolved? Did the smiles of your past teach you things that bring more to what you put into it today? These are things to contemplate as you go about the day. As you look upon others and the smile plays back, ask yourself if what you are getting back is more than what you have given in the past.

Do more things bring on the smile?  The longer we live the more there is to experience. Wonder today whether there is more complexity behind the smile that is displayed to the world.  Delight in the answers that come your way. Is the smile a feeling or expression that is conveyed? When smiling note whether it is just a curvature of the lips and a twinkle in the eyes or perhaps if the whole face gets into the action. The whole body might even change in some way… tis your opportunity to take notice of .

Play with your face and see about what is past, present and yet to be all day long!

Your fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Ušmiech – Smile in Polish

Notice today the language of other’s smiles. Notice how a smile communicates where no words are needed and also where a helping word or two convey the meaning. The smile has a language all by itself and can communicate a generosity of spirit from the giver to the receiver. It reminds that all is ok and that there is generally acceptance ahead. Think about the power of the smile to convey when words cannot. There can be a healing in a smile as it changes the demeanor from one position to another too.

Today’s suggestion relies on the language of the smile to convey communication to others. It is our lesson in what we communicate and a stretch to notice other variables in the language of the smile. In ourselves as well as others, note the nuances of the smile. Where are we able to comprehend the meaning and where is it less clear?  Did the smile say welcome, or offer politeness?  Does it offer connection or a cover? Many subtleties are present, though when we are genuine and offering authenticity, it is usually what we notice about others too.

May your day be filled with curiousity and learning. May your smile enjoy the exploration! Enjoy!

Your Fan,

Lynda

International Smiles: Smaids – Smile in Latvian