50 Cheery Things That Will Make You Smile

When were happy, we smile, but did you know it works the other way around too? Studies have shown that you can make yourself feel happy by smiling. So ask yourself, what makes you smile?

Improve Your Mood with a Fake Smile

Smiling and laughter release neuropeptides which reduce stress and make you feel happier. Endorphins then follow, giving an instant happiness boost; you can use it whenever you want positive emotions or a sense of well-being.

Faking a grin or putting a false smile on your face may seem like cheating, but psychologists have found that it does elevate your mood. Studies have shown that a simple smile can also:

• Lower blood pressure
• Improve your immune system
• Help with self-esteem and reduce negative emotions
• Release dopamine and other feel-good hormones
• Reduce Cortisol, the stress hormone

But rather than simply faking a smile over nothing, allow yourself to smile and feel happy in situations you usually ignore.

Look around the room right now; you can find things that make you feel happy. Perhaps something triggers a memory, or there’s something beautiful, just something silly like a banana skin that missed the trash can. Whatever it is, let yourself smile about it. You’ll feel better if you do.

Smile When You Wake Up in the Morning

It can be tough to wake up early in the morning. You’re tired, cold, and unmotivated, but you must get up anyway. It’s easy to go about your morning routine like a zombie, but you’re missing all the opportunities to make yourself feel better. Remind yourself why you make yourself that cup of coffee every day – because you love it. So smile when you take that first sip and remind yourself how good you have it.

1. Waking up before the alarm
2. A cup of coffee in the morning
3. Eating breakfast with your family
4. The smell of your clean clothes
5. The sensation of a hot shower
6. Saying your morning affirmations
7. Being awake before everyone else
8. Deciding what to do with the day
9. Completing your morning routine
10. Making your bed

Make People Smile Outside

It’s time to get outside and start the day. Even if you’ve got a long journey to work ahead of you, you can find reasons to smile. As you look around, remember that if you were never born, you’d never see all these things. So even if you usually walk straight past them or think they are mundane, they can still make you smile.

Smiles are contagious, so use your beautiful smile to boost the moods of the people you meet.

11. A blue sky
12. The sound of rain on the roof of your car
13. Buying a coffee to go
14. Choosing a lunch you love
15. Getting yourself a sweet treat
16. A happy dog
17. A happy memory from the same place
18. Crisp fresh air
19. Flowers
20. Going a new route

Reasons to Smile At Work

If you dislike your job, smiling may not be enough to turn your life around, but while looking for a better career, you can make yourself feel better by just smiling about the parts of your job that you don’t hate.

Ask a colleague to join you and smile at each other. It will seem foolish, and you’ll both start laughing at first, but you” soon notice that making people smile makes you both happier.

21. Lunch with a colleague
22. Emptying your email inbox
23. Completing a project
24. Finishing early
25. A five-minute break to unwind
26. A satisfied customer
27. Knowing you did your best
28. Finding a solution
29. Helping someone on their first day
30. Bringing coffee or snacks for your team

Be Cheerful Wherever You Are

There are things to smile about wherever you go, so allow yourself to smile when you encounter them. Starting a journal is an excellent way to encourage yourself. As part of your evening routine, recount the day in your diary and describe how it made you feel. Then, the next time the same thing happens, you’ll recognize it immediately as something you can smile about.

31. Seeing a familiar face in an unexpected place
32. Seeing people working hard at the gym
33. Watching your child walk out of school with their friends
34. Remembering how you saw this place as a child
35. Finding a sale at your favorite store
36. Hearing birds tweeting
37. A sunrise or sunset
38. Purging your house
39. Donating anonymously
40. The smell of cut grass

Try to Smile in the Evening

The day is done, and you might be exhausted, but there is still much to be happy about. Your important tasks of the day are complete, and there’s nothing else left to worry about, so all that’s left is for you to enjoy the evening. Even if there’s no one else with you, you can smile to yourself and enjoy an evening off.

41. Receiving a message from a friend
42. Finding a new show to watch
43. Coming home to a ready-made meal
44. Coming home to a tidy house
45. Soft music
46. Lights against a dark blue evening sky
47. Getting lucky with the traffic lights
48. Knowing someone is waiting for you
49. An empty gym
50. A tasty dessert

Smiling Isn’t Always the Solution to Your Problems

Of course, you don’t want people to think you’ve gone crazy because you do nothing but smile all the time. But if you think of your smile as a tool you always have with you and can use whenever you need it, it will make your life easier.

There are problems that smiling won’t solve. Instead, you need action to shift your reality and make a fundamental change in your life. Making significant changes and working toward a better life seems daunting, but with a solid process, it’s simple.

Start with where you are, then outline where you want to be, figure out some goals and how to achieve them, and all that’s left is to work towards them consistently. I’ve helped hundreds of clients through this process, and you can read how to do it yourself in this article.

• How to Get Your Life Together