101 Ways to Move Forward After A Midlife Divorce

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Tip #85. Smile for 16 Seconds. Everyone seems stressed out these days. Our finances are wobbly (or worse!). The presidential campaign is making us hyperventilate (or want to hit someone!). And if you’re going through midlife divorce, your whole world is temporarily turned upside down! Here’s a suggestion from one of the well-credentialed speakers at the Midlife Divorce Recovery Bootcamp a few days ago: “Smile for 16 seconds before you get out of bed every morning and before you go to sleep every night.” It sounds ridiculous, but Karen Rowinsky who has a master’s degree in social work and has many years of experience in “Helping Women Get the Life They Desire,” says it’s true. Research bears out that the simple act of smiling for 16 seconds makes good things happen in your brain. Our actions have emotional consequences. Smiling is one of those actions that the brain uses to make us more optimistic, happy and encouraged about everything. The only thing is, the brain can’t tell when we’re faking a smile, or when it’s real. The endorphins do their stuff whether the smile was because a researcher ordered us to smile or whether we hear a really funny joke. The good thing about the 16-second smile is that we can do it in the privacy of our own home. Smiling like that out in public all the time might make people really worry about us. But starting tonight, I’m going to do this for one week and see what happens. I may have to do it at lunch too, the way things are going. Try it, and let me know if you can tell any difference. I know there are Laugh Clubs around the world. These can be our 16-second Smile Seminars. E-mail me at suzysuccess@kc.rr.com with any results.