Motivation Mondays: SMILE #mondaymotivation

“A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside.” Denis Waitley

Motivation Mondays: SMILE – Smiley Faces are a symbol of goodwill

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Leo Buscaglia
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you’ll start to see a big difference in your life. Yoko Ono

Happy belated World Smile Day!  What does a smile mean to you? Years ago, I learned that smiling while speaking to a prospect or anyone on the phone, for that matter, conveys warmth in our voice and can be felt on the other side of the device. It takes less effort to smile than it takes to frown, and a smile can work wonders for our body, our spirit, and our interactions with others. When we smile at others, we are sending an unspoken message of friendliness and goodwill. Before you raise questions about fake smiles, let me remind you that a fake smile is a real smile on hiatus and in training to become real. Sometimes, when we are feeling challenged or stressed, we might smile at the irony of our situation and, without being aware of the impact of our smile, it creates a shift in our struggle and reduces some of the tension that the stressful situation might have created.

A smile is not the same as a grimace or a sneer, and it is never wasted. We might start out with a half-smile over an unpleasant condition and, as things unfold and we relax enough to consider a way out, we find that we are able to choose better options and our half-smile flowers into a full, real smile. The point is that a smile can help us navigate through life’s challenges, adjust to the impact of difficult situations, and open doors to solutions that make sense. So when we feel stressed and dejected, let’s take a moment to think of someone or something that gives us good cheer and — SMILE. A smile conveys goodwill, joy and warmth. Like anything else we are motivated to do on Mondays and beyond, let’s add a smile to our Can-Do List.
A Story: Change Your Attitude & Smile
A Chinese emperor known for his foul temper entered the bedroom of his soon-to-be-bride, who was one of the most beautiful women in all of China. She was being made to marry him against her will, as her parents were forcing her into it. Little did the emperor know however that she had also been taught by wise sages as a child. She sat expressionless, staring at the wall. “Hello, pretty,” he said to her, but she didn’t respond. “I said hello to you, and you will respond when I address you, do you understand me??” he snarled. But still, she didn’t reply. Most people would have answered him by now, so despite himself he grew curious, and gruffly asked, “What is it you are thinking?”
Finally she answered him. “Two things. One, that I do not wish to marry you because you are so callous and mean-spirited. And the other thing, is that I was wondering if you have it with in your power to have a certain something changed.”
“What?!” the emperor exclaimed with outrage. “You bitch! How dare you question my authority! … But … I admit I’m curious. Since I have it within my power to snap my fingers and whatever I command within my kingdom will be obeyed, what is it you are wondering if I could change?”
“Your attitude,” she replied. And with that she got up and walked out of the room, leaving him in stunned silence. Zen Stories via Read.Goodweb

“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” Mother Teresa

Motivation Mondays: SMILE – Smiley Faces are a symbol of goodwill

Nobody needs a smile so much as the one who has none to give. So get used to smiling heart-warming smiles, and you will spread sunshine in a sometimes dreary world. Lawrence G. Lovasik
A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. William Hazlitt

Happy belated World Smile Day! Did you know that there’s a World Smile Day? Have you ever wondered where the popular Smiley Face came from? As I was working on this post for my Motivation Mondays series, I did some research on the origins of the Smiley Face. Have you ever wondered where it came from? Harvey Ball created the symbol for an insurance company in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1963, as an employee training symbol. He was paid $45 for his effort and went on his merry way. As time went by, the symbol grew in popularity and more folks started using it in a variety of ways, especially for happy, cheerful occasions and events. Before we could say smile, it took on an international flavor and Harvey created the World Smile Corporation in 1999. Such is the power of intention and a smile

When Harvey passed away in 2001, the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was created to honor his memory and since then, it has grown in strength with more people using and celebrating the smiley face around the world. This year, many joined the Foundation on Friday, October 4th to celebrate World Smile Day and to share their motto: “Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile!” Isn’t it amazing what we can achieve when we set a positive intention to do good in the world? Sadly, the same can be said for setting negative intentions that bring about tragedy and disaster globally. This is why we need to focus our energies on the positive, and align ourselves with others who resonate the same energy. There is much that can be accomplished when we are motivated to set intentions that uplift humanity rather than those that destroy life and nature. A smile is one of the finest gifts we can give to others and it costs nothing.
A Story: Smile In Contentment
There was a group of elderly gentlemen in Japan who would meet to exchange news and drink tea. One of their diversions was to search for costly varieties of tea and create new blends that would delight the palate. When it was the turn of the oldest member of the group to entertain the others, he served tea with the greatest ceremony, measuring out the leaves from a golden container. Everyone had the highest praise for the tea and demanded to know by what particular combination he had arrived at this exquisite blend.
The old man smiled and said, “Gentlemen, the tea that you find so delightful is the one that is drunk by the peasants on my farm. The finest things in life are neither costly nor hard to find.” Zen Stories via Read.Goodweb

The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for September and October are:

09/07 – LABOR & LITERACY
09/14 – POSITIVE THINKING
09/21 – PEACE/INTERNATIONAL PEACE
09/28 – GOOD NEIGHBORS/GOODWILL

10/05 – SMILE – World Smile Day
10/12 – DISCOVER – Columbus Day
10/19 – COMMUNITY – UN Day & Make A Difference Day
10/26 – FEAR – Halloween Day

More Below!
“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” William Arthur Ward

Motivation Mondays: SMILE – Smiley Faces are a symbol of goodwill

After every storm the sun will smile; for every problem there is a solution, and the soul’s indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer. William R. Alger
Remember even though the outside world might be raining, if you keep on smiling the sun will soon show its face and smile back at you. Anna Lee

Did you know that there is Power in a Smile? Yes, there is tremendous power in smiling and there’s even a special day that celebrates the Power of a Smile. When we take the time to smile, even a moment to look in the mirror and smile, we are aligning ourselves with all that is good and uplifting in our spirit. A smile is a reminder that we need to be compassionate and loving with ourselves and others around us. It gives us hope in dark times, and opens our hearts to an inner joy that can become shunted when we allow grief and struggle to overcome us. We all go through difficult, challenging times in our lives and those of us who choose to find moments of joy and laughter in our struggles come back stronger. We all fail at something in life and the lessons we learn from our failures can make us either bitter or eager to start over. The choice is ours to smile and buckle down or to frown and stay miserable over our predicament.

Sarah Ban Breathnach wrote Simple Abundance during a challenging time in her life, and watched her struggles turn around as her book became a number one best seller. Oprah and everyone came calling offering her greater public access and opportunities to become richer. By the end of the decade, she had lost it all through bad business decisions, over spending and giving much of it away. She ended up moving in with her sister and it took some time to bounce back from the brink of financial loss. The experience led her to write another book, Peace and Plenty, a money memoir that shares her second go around with difficult life turns. Through all her trials and tribulations, Sarah has maintained a spirit of gratitude and a smile on her face. Many folks face incredible, life shifting challenges and maintaining a grateful, cheerful heart can be very difficult. My wish for you is that you celebrate the life you have in the good times and celebrate the memories and belief that things will improve in the harsh times… then go work to create that change. Don’t Give UP!
A Story: Smile… I See You!
Many centuries ago in Japan, an ex-warlord and his best friend were riding their horses down a dusty road when a light rain came, that quickly passed. Then they saw a beautiful rainbow appear in the sky, and eventually came to where one side of the colorful arc touched down on the ground. It was right beside the road, where a monk was sitting below a blossoming plum-tree. The two pulled their horses to a halt, in order to ask the monk some questions about the local area, when they noticed that there were tears streaming down his face, and he was smiling.
The ex-warlord asked, “Why do you cry, friend?”
“Because you can finally see me,” answered the monk. Zen Stories via Read.Goodweb

Positive Motivation Tip: A Smile can make a huge difference to you, to others, and to someone in need … SMILE!

Motivation Mondays is open to anyone who wishes to share a motivational quote, photo, personal challenge or a post that encourages others to start the week on an upbeat note.
Basic Instructions: Each week, I will have a motivation word to help us create a response. (See listed words for the months above/below)
Email address: You may email or share your post as a comment and I will add it to the round-up of related posts. email it to: contact(@)mirthandmotivation(.)com
Category tag: – Share your post using Motivation Mondays
Twitter hashtag: – Use this on Twitter #MotvnM
Dedicated Page: There is a dedicated page for Motivation Mondays. It has the same instructions and will include other helpful tools and a link to the round-up
Facebook Page: MotivationOnMondays Join our page and add your post and/or any motivational piece you think will be helpful to others.
Facebook Community: We have a Facebook community forum to compliment the page. It serves as another way to share uplifting posts and thoughts. Please join in and add your voice.

Badge: – I created a fun badge using PicMonkey’s free photo editing tools. You can create your own, use WordPress’ integrated tool on your blog or you are welcome to use mine. (see dedicated page)
Tag: – Motivation Mondays
Hashtag: – #MotvnM

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PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS:  Zen Stories via Read.Goodweb  All Photos: Generic smiley-face, Mr. Smiley Face, Smiley head happy via Wikipedia and/or from my Personal Collection.

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet