You need to find the means to put a smile on your face during challenging training and events.

I recommend that you find the means to put a smile on your face during challenging training and events. Although this may be difficult at first, it will get easier with time and practice. By doing this you are not just pretending to be positive but are actually forcing yourself into a happy place.

Studies have shown that a smile brings the same level of stimulation as eating a bunch of chocolate bars (so if you are using that tactic to brighten your day, then smiling instead will have the added benefit of weight loss!). Smiling releases endorphins, serotonin, and natural painkillers. In fact, people with serious depression have been completely cured with daily twenty-minute sessions during which the patient just sits and smiles.

Intriguingly, recent research on happiness by David Lykken and Auke Tellegen, from the University of Washington, suggests that over half of what makes a person happy is within our sphere of influence to change. They cite faith, family, community and work as places to find that happiness. I don’t know for sure if being happy makes one smile more or if smiling more makes one happy, but it would be hard to dispute that the two are linked. Making a habit of smiling is a good idea because it can:

Induce the physiology of happiness Lower blood pressure Boost immunity Reduce stress Cure depression Create a positive feedback loop as you are more appealing to others when you smile

It is amazing how something as simple as smiling can have such a profound effect.

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