Who likes smiling? Buddy the elf, of course, but is he the only one? How about you? Do you enjoy smiling and laughing? What I’ve recently realized is that in the past, I had waited for something external to me to cause me to laugh or smile. And in doing this, I gave up the power to control my state of mind, not to mention the state of mind of those around me. Are you interested in enjoying yourself more, and being around people who are enjoying themselves more?
It’s a Decision
The more time I spend around successful people, the more I realize that success is a planned event. Winners are not blown about by their circumstances or their feelings. It’s not that they don’t have feelings; they simply use their feelings to inform their thinking, and then choose to move forward positively.
It’s a matter of what’s a cause and what’s an effect. Kids are captives to their feelings. As we grow and mature, we need to learn to control our attitudes and our disposition. Try this–be angry while smiling. It’s very difficult! When you make a decision to view your situation as great, to have expectation that good things will happen, you exert influence on the situation.
Give to Receive
I find, with rare exception, that approaching someone with a smile and treating them politely tends to cause them to smile at me and treat me politely. There are some people who are so negative, that event this won’t work. Determine who these people are by taking the action above, and then consider avoiding these people in the future. 😀 But you know, a great majority of people, when approached with a positive attitude, will respond in kind.
Waiting to Feel Like It
I have missed out on positive and enjoyable interactions many times, simply because I mixed up cause and effect. I didn’t feel like smiling and expecting my interaction to be positive. Because I didn’t feel like it, I didn’t do it, and I didn’t experience the benefit. I have since found that smiling and positive expectations are a decision, and I may choose to have them or not.
The funny thing is, thise times that I don’t feel like being positive, but simply decided to smile and decided to expect good things, I often have found that my circumstances change, becoming more positive, and resulting in a more enjoyable time. As I enjoy this improved interaction, I naturally begin to smile and feel positive about the situation.
Adjusting Our Habits
How did I miss such a simple and now seemingly obvious truth? Waiting to be happy, depending on your circumstances, causes your emotions to be blown around by the winds of your circumstances. Conversely, deciding intentionally what your outlook will be will tend to bring you more positive interactions, resulting in a more enjoyable experience and a naturally positive outlook. Simple, right? then why do we miss it?
Likely this isn’t the first time you’ve heard that it’s good to be positive. In fact, when you last heard or read this idea, it probably made you feel positive for a while. But guess what? All that is is being influenced positively by positive circumstances! If that’s all you do, the positive outlook will only stay until a negative circumstance comes!
Instead, make a decision that you will choose to smile and be positive, even when your circumstances make you want to feel otherwise. Acknowledge that you’re facing a tough situation, pick yourself up, choose to smile, and walk forward into your next successful moment. And as you do, enjoy the benefits of your thriving life!