Did you know there is research that calculates how often people smile? Yep, I found it on the internet, so it must be true, right?
The study reveals some surprising results. For example, it found that the average child smiles around 400 times per day, but the average adult smiles only around 20 times per day!
RELATED: Check out more stories on faith and culture from Ken Lass.
My first reaction is: I want to meet the person who actually goes around counting all these smiles. But if you think about it, the results make sense. Researchers say children have very few things to worry about. They just enjoy life as it comes, whereas adults have the stresses of money, health, and yes, child-raising.
Women smile more than men, about 60 times per day, the report said. Men were found to smile fewer than 10 times per day. This is because women tend to express their emotions more outwardly, while men have been culturally trained to remain stoic and cool. Still, I’d hate to think my life is so serious that I can’t find 10 reasons to smile in a day.
Smiling not only helps you be open and friendly, it’s good for your health. It releases endorphins to your brain that can give you a feeling of overall pleasure and relaxation.
What does the Bible say about smiling?
The Bible speaks highly of a smile. Job talks about lighting up people he met. “I smiled at them and they could hardly believe it. My smile made them feel better” (Job 29:24).
In Proverbs we read, “A smile makes people happy. It will make them feel better” (Prov. 15:30). Throughout God’s word, you read of gratitude because “God smiled down.”
Oh, one other thing about that research: It also found that people are very good at telling the difference between a fake smile and a real one. Fake smiles make people uneasy and suspicious, and are not included in the totals above.
This should not be a problem for true believers. We have plenty to smile about. Knowing our eternal destiny is secure, knowing God is with us always, finding authentic joy in ministry to others — those are blessings that should make even the most stone-faced among us flash a huge grin.
So go ahead, smile like a child all day. Why should the kids have all the fun?
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a retired Birmingham television news and sports anchor and an award-winning columnist for numerous publications and websites.
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