“Turn that frown upside down.”
How many times have you not felt like smiling, you were mad, vexed, disturbed, sad … ? You just didn’t want to smile. You were NOT happy. But you gritted your teeth and forced a smile. Is it helpful? Will forcing such an expression help your mood? Can you fake yourself to happiness?
A study, led by Nicholas Coles of Stanford, was published recently in the journal Nature Human Behavior that is titled “A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration” looks at just such a question, “Will faking a smile make you happier?”
“Will faking a smile make you happier?”
In a nutshell – the answer is yes! in their words … smiling more or frowning less—can help manage distress, improve well-being and reduce depression. WOW. So I truly need to smile more.
Now in all frankness (whoever Frank is?), they do say they don’t really know why smiling more helps your mood. They put forth several possibilities … a subconscious mind game … the interaction with others (you smiling prompts others to respond with positive mood, which in return gives you a better mood and so on the circle goes) … a biologic stimulation they couldn’t discern. In the end, they said it helps but they just don’t know why.
True Joy is from the Lord
Now I am all for positive mood vibes. They are much better than the put-down, depressed, angry, critical moods we see so often today. In the words of those famous theologians – All we need is love! Love is All we need! That’s some positive mojo.
And when you want real joy, lasting joy, true contentment, even in a mad, mad, mad world – it is found n something bigger than the world – something beyond the world. More specifically, it is found in Someone. Jesus.
The Joy of the Lord is my strength. Ii will lift my eyes, where my strength comes from.
If we fix our eyes on Jesus – who for JOY paid the price for our messiness and sin …
If we remain in Him – who loved us and gave His life for us …
If we return to Him with humility and transparency – the One who can create in us a new heart …
The we are at the right place to restore the JOY of our salvation, to be upheld by His willing spirit.
He will turn our frown upside down.
So go ahead, SMILE! You’ve got a reason to. You are loved by God. So all we need is love, His love! That should put a smile on any face!
Muddy Shoes by Todd 
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