Smiling is Contagious!

Put a smile on your face!  You are young, in college, surrounded by tons of possible new friends, and have the opportunity to follow any dream that you can conceive. Yet, we see so many people walking around on campus with their head buried in a cell phone, staring at the ground as they walk by, or better yet pass you with a blank gaze as you cross paths.  I saw these blank stares and buried heads far too many times on campus and made it a point early on in school to not be this type of person.  College is a fun and happy time, although it can get stressful around finals week, but none the less students during those four years are at the best time in their lives so why not smile about it.  I read an article my sophomore year that talked about the power of a positive attitude and how smiling at people as you pass by can have a wonderful effect on your attitude and the others you come in contact with.  I was skeptical at first about how beneficial this hypothesis was until I tried it for myself.  Normally when walking around campus I would have my head stuck in my phone looking at the latest post on Facebook or texting the girlfriend at the time and paid little attention to the people passing by.  After reading the article I decided to give the smiling hypothesis a try, and man did it work!  I began to smile at everyone that walked by from students and professors to administration and custodians and was amazed at the way my attitude was changed for the day.  It was truly contagious.  Almost everyone that saw me coming would smile back and you could tell that it brightened their day as well as mine.  Smiling at new people every day always seemed to put me in a better mood for the day and even made me several new friends.  You never know what kind of day other people are having.  Someone might have just gotten out of a brutal three-hour night lecture on top of having an already bad day, and seeing your smile as you walk by could be the one thing that turns their day from bad to good, and who knows you could possibly even get a date from that one simple gesture. If you do not believe me, then please try it for yourself after reading this, and see how it positively affects your attitude.  Smiling could even strike up a conversation with the girl or guy you like in class that otherwise you would have missed with your head buried in the phone.