smiling

[Guido]

The subway was crowded this morning. I looked around and counted smiles. Because there where a lot of people I only could see 1/4 of a car. I counted 4 smiles, on about 30 people. I was among those who where not smiling

Of those 4 smiles, two where from people talking to each other, aparantly they where talking about something funny. After the joke, their faces turned to neutral. That leaves only two smiles where I can absolutly sure it is caused by some inner factor like feeling happy or a cheerful nature. The people where diverse, men in suit and tie, students in leather jackets and jeans, youngsters going to higschool etc. Age, occupation and subcultere don't seem to influence smiling behaviour.


In the west we may not have the best eating habits but we have the best food. Obesity is a problem but not malnutrition as in lack of vitmamins, minerals, proteins of whatever. We got the best medecine and comfortable homes. Why doesn't this show on our faces?

Why do we make a lot of efforts to eat healthy and take plenty of exercise and not show it in the expression of our face or the way we walk?

[CharlieShnoskyIII]

I make the attempts to smile as often as possible can be.

[Matthew]

If you make eye contact with someone and smile at them, they'll start to smile too. Try it out. It works all the time sometimes.

That said, I never just smile on my own. Too much effort. There are only three situations where you will find a smile on my face, 1)if someone says something funny, 2)if someone smiles at me, 3)if someone is taking a picture of me.
None of these situations are voluntary.

[Frank.S]

Im mister happy-go-lucky most of the time and people always tell me to 'get the grin off my face'.

I guess everyone is different.

[Ruma]

Wonderful observation Guido!!

Ever wonder which country tops the happiness survey. It's Nigeria. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3157570.stm. May be the same reason why you do not see many people with smiling faces in the west.

I was born and brought up in India. I was in the US for about 4 years. US is the only western country I have had a chance to live in. So I cannot comment on the other countries. What I felt was the expectation from life was pretty high in the US. Happiness is also about meeting expectations, in my opinion.

One day I walked into office(in dallas), to see my co-workers grumble about labourers trying to fix the road during office hours. That got them delayed to work by 15 mins. Everyone was delayed that day and I was thinking, they should be happy the government is taking care to fix a broken road. I could not understand what the complain was, initially..

[Kaiser]

Wonderful observation yourself, Ruma! Stress and high expectations don't lead to a lot of happiness. I'm shocked about Nigeria, because year after year, they lead Transparency Internatinal's list of Most Corrupt Countries. Yet, there they are.... happy.

A good friend of mine who grew up here in Chicago moved to Hawaii and lived on various islands there. He came back for a visit once and I asked him the most striking differences he noticed. I thought he'd say the congestion or the weather, but he said, "Everyone here [Chicago] is in a rush. And they never smile." When I asked him if he wouldn't have expected that since he spent the first 25 years of his life here, he said he had gotten used to a laid-back island style where people were happy with what they had and smiled because of it.

An old saying says to look up to people who are richer than you with knowledge and wisdom - you'll desire to be like them and will take steps to acquire more knowledge yourself - but to associate with people who have less material goods than you - you'll feel grateful for what you have and not be chasing 'the next new material thing'.

So I leave you with a hearty "ALOHA!" and a .

[Ruma]

Originally Posted by Kaiser

An old saying says to look up to people who are richer than you with knowledge and wisdom - you'll desire to be like them and will take steps to acquire more knowledge yourself - but to associate with people who have less material goods than you - you'll feel grateful for what you have and not be chasing 'the next new material thing'.

Good one Kaiser. I will try to remember it. I have been taught over and over again in school and in life the above phrase in different ways. It is/was ingrained so deep that I was always afraid to even question why seeking more knowledge is better than seeking more wealth?

[Jen2006]

it's nice to see people smiling just because of the joy in their hearts!