Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Smile! It Cures What Ails You.

"Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.  Cry, and you cry alone."  I don't know who said that, but I like it because it is true.  Everyone wants to be around a happy person.  A couple of weeks ago, I created a facebook page called "Be Happy", and it has 84 "likes".  People like to see us smile and laugh.  It relieves stress....theirs and ours.  Joel Osteen says, "If you have a sense of humor and you laugh regularly, your mind lights up.....As a result, your problem-solving skills are increased."

I've found this to be true when I am teaching my students.  I was trained back in the day by someone who told me not to smile at my students until Christmas.  Now, that is some bad advice.  Since I am retired, I sub every day so I greet my students with a smile.  When I taught full time, it took me a few years to realize that I needed to have fun with the kids and make learning fun.  Once I started doing that, I loved my job.  I wish I would have known from the get-go that smiling helps with bonding and drawing students to me.  I was taught not to be friends with my students, but guess what?  When I became friendly, I got a lot more work out of my students.  It's not good for us, or those we teach, to be serious all the time. A smile brings down the walls and makes us accessible.

My grandkids make me smile.  My little baby Rosie laughs a lot.  It's contagious.   Her mom sends me videos and I post them on face book.  It brings me such joy.  Job 8:21 says, "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter."  This is so healing.  It cures what ails me.

Love and Light,
Patty