Smiling is polite, but I think we are also socially conditioned to smile when other people smile.  Like yawning, smiling is contagious.  Research has also shown that if you smile, you will start to feel better.  You can actually trick yourself into thinking you’re happy!

It depends on the situation of course, but in general I do find smiling to be contagious. It's nice to share a smile with somebody, even it it's somebody you don't know. Seeing others smile seems to have an ingrained positive effect on us, we are wired to like it, so returning a smile just increases that feeling of good will.

I do. I can't say scientifically why this happens, but there are probably a few reasons. First, if a person smiles at me, I feel rude not to smile back. I don't want to make another person feel bad, especially if they are smiling. Sometimes, though, I think smiling back at others who are smiling is a physical response that I don't even think about. I do this with other facial expressions as well. It seems to me something to do with empathy. When I see other people cry, for example, my eyes tend to tear up because I am having a physical reaction to seeing them cry. There is probably a scientific explanation for this, but I just know it's something that happens.

Sometimes, if someone smiles, it uplifts your own mood and you respond in kind. Too often, as we are busy focusing on our own struggles and issues, we go through the day looking distracted and even appearing mad or unhappy. If someone smiles, it can be infectious and you might respond by smiling back. It can have a positive impact on someone. However, sometimes, if someone smiles inappropriately, in can have the opposite effect and make you react in a negative way.

Yes, I do smile when I see others smile, when appropriate. I like to acknowledge their positivity and their instilling something pleasant and welcoming in the daily drama that is everyday life. Especially in these chaotic and turbulent times, a smile is something beautiful and wonderful to behold.

A lovely smile, whether from a child, an elderly person, or anyone else can set a nice tone for the day. Smiles certainly are contagious - they tend to spread from person to person. They're a nice antidote to the sometimes morose facades we encounter during the course of a week.

The Power of a Smile

The Untapped Power of Smiling

My mother taught me to smile at everyone.  She said,

Life is not just about you.  It does not matter how you feel because the Lord placed us here to help others.  Smiling makes other people feel good, so if you cannot do anything else for someone, you can at least smile at him.

Homespun wisdom that rings true.  Even though my mother was right (of course, I did not think so at the time.) over sixty years ago, my mother was unaware then of the physical importance of smiling on the "smiler."

There is a ripple effect generated from smiling.  When a person smiles, the brain produces endorphins which are chemicals inside the body.  When endorphins are release, they produce a feeling of well-being: the release helps relieve physical and emotional stress.  Stress affects so many things in a person's life including a host of illnesses.  Conversely, the person receiving the smile may also have that endorphin experience and then he feels better, and then he smiles...thus, the ripple effect.

A smile can also be an involuntary response, but a real smile come from inside the heart.  The genuine smile created by certain stimuli--a mother's teaching, a memory or sound, a happy thought, seeing something funny---feels good and then that sense of well-being kicks in automatically.

Remember the old saying about it takes more effort and muscles to frown than it does to smile.  It is true:  37 muscles to frown and 22 to smile.  Smile because it saves energy.  I read in a book that smiling confuses the frown. (Did I make you smile?) William Shakespeare in Othello also felt smiling was vital:

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.

Like the old song says, "just keep on smiling, smile through the pain."