Day 8: Spend the Entire Day Smiling.

Challenge Day 8: Call Elizabeth so we can schedule lunch to celebrate your birthday.
That's too easy, so also... Spend the entire day smiling.

I was happy to get this challenge this morning. Yippee, I get to talk to my friend Elizabeth and smile all day. Piece of cake. Well, as things go in this busy life, I left a voicemail and we texted each other, but were not able to talk. Darn.

My secret weapon to help me smile all day was to bring my little dog, Lola, with me to work and wear bright red shoes. Who can't smile with a cute dog and crazy red shoes around? Well, smiling all day is not as easy as I thought. While I am making an extra effort to smile more, it's just not natural - well not for me any way. I mean, even as I type this, when I begin to concentrate on word selection and typing, my face just relaxes. It takes concentrated facial muscles to smile unless something makes you smile.

I decided to do some google investigation. Hmm, let's try..."mechanics of smiling". Nope, found sites with auto mechanics who smile. Whoa, there are some good looking smiling auto mechanics out there. If you have a spare minute, google images of "mechanics of smiling". Next, how about "reflexive smiling"? No, that's what newborns do and has no connection to external stimulation. Third time's a charm. Thanks Wikipedia. Here's what I found:

Smiling involves both a chemical and biological process. The brain secretes chemicals from neurotransmitters including Serotonin and Dopamine that causes the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to react to environmental stimuli that individuals process unconsciously through the five senses of: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. As a result, if something is amusing or enjoyable the facial muscle movements results in creating smiles that are activated for various reasons. Things such as hearing amusing jokes, watching a person accidentally doing something amusing, and other funny scenarios all contribute to what makes people smile.

So I guess if I could constantly see, here, touch, taste, and/or think of something enjoyable or amusing, I could spend the entire day smiling. What a great day that would be! Well, I am enjoying trying.