{"id":2368,"date":"2023-03-07T11:48:33","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T11:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/?p=2368"},"modified":"2023-03-07T11:49:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T11:49:55","slug":"a-smile-speaks-a-thousand-words-care-first-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/2023\/03\/07\/a-smile-speaks-a-thousand-words-care-first-article\/","title":{"rendered":"A Smile Speaks A Thousand Words – Care First Article"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018\u2019It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it <\/em><\/strong>can last a lifetime.\u201d ~ Steve Maraboli<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The physical and psychological benefits of smiling and laughter are plentiful. Research
\nshows that those who consciously or subconsciously smile more live better and
\nlonger. Research also shows there are many benefits to smiling at others. As goes the old
\nsaying \u2018laughter is contagious\u2019 and studies show this is indeed true.<\/p>\n

Happiness and kindness are big contributors to smiling. Happiness is something that
\nwe all seek but it can often be hard to find. Happiness can come in many different ways
\nand from different things but generally it is the feeling of joy, contentment and general
\nsatisfaction and fulfilment in life. So it is not so much something that we can find, rather
\nthan something we can build. First we need to understand happiness and how it works.<\/p>\n

The two main parts of happiness<\/h2>\n

If you are aiming for overall happiness you will need to have a look at two main areas
\nwithin yourself.<\/p>\n

Life satisfaction<\/strong> \u2013 This is what it says on the tin. This is how satisfied you are with
\ndifferent areas of your life. This includes many things such as achievements, purpose,
\nrelationships, work, hobbies etc. many of these things can help contribute to your
\nhappiness, but not feeling happy with these areas will actively make it harder for you to
\nachieve a good balance and find happiness.<\/p>\n

Balancing emotions<\/strong> \u2013 Even the happiest of people will still experience feelings of
\nsadness, anger, bad moods etc. and this is normal. This is something you will have less
\nactive control of, but this will be influenced by your life satisfaction. Happiness is
\ngenerally linked to feeling more positive emotions than negative.<\/p>\n

How will I know if I\u2019m happy?<\/h2>\n

Happiness is completely subjective as different things will make different people
\nhappy. You may have it all and still not feel happiness, but why? Your version of
\nhappiness might be different to what we are lead to desire. Feeling happy will feel like:<\/p>\n

\u2022 You\u2019re living the life you wanted
\n\u2022 That your life conditions are good
\n\u2022 That you have accomplished or will accomplish what you want in life
\n\u2022 You\u2019re generally satisfied
\n\u2022 Feeling generally more positive feelings than negative<\/h3>\n

Helping to turn a negative mind set into a positive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes we can get trapped in a negative mind set which can make our thought
\nprocess negative, even though it doesn\u2019t need to be. We, as humans, have a natural bias to
\ngive more attention to the negatives than the positives. When you find yourself thinking
\nthis way, or giving negative thoughts time and attention to grow, then you should try to
\nreframe these thoughts.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t about ignoring them or trying to shut them out, it is about spending the time
\nto think about them in a different way in which you could perhaps see the positive in
\nit, or find the silver lining, or realise it\u2019s not all that bad. Negative thoughts can often be
\nfleeting, but by spending the time to think about them you will often see that it\u2019s not all
\nthat bad.<\/p>\n

Tricks to become happier<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Each of these tricks can help you to feel more positive, content and generally happier. Each
\none requires some time and effort to work on.<\/p>\n

Get regular exercise<\/strong> \u2013 this is good for your body and mind
\nGratitude<\/strong> \u2013 Being grateful for what you have will allow you to become more content
\nSense of purpose<\/strong> \u2013 Having purpose will help you to feel more fulfilled
\nAvoiding negativity<\/strong> \u2013 Work out the negative influences in your life<\/p>\n

No easy task<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are many things in life that pose challenges to us and our happiness.
\nSometimes it might feel like happiness is out of reach. It isn\u2019t always easy to achieve,
\nespecially if things are hard, but by making small changes in your life it will help you to
\ncultivate and improve on your happiness.<\/p>\n

The great thing about happiness, is that it gets easier to achieve and maintain the <\/strong>happier you get!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the World continues to react and change to cope with COVID-19 and the cost of
\nliving crisis, there are many challenges posed in our everyday lives. We have seen
\nsome amazing acts of kindness over recent years. Being kind to both yourself and
\nothers can have a positive effect on not only your mental health but also it can have an
\namazing knock on effect to your self-esteem and other people\u2019s mental health as well.<\/p>\n

Below are some ideas to inspire you as well as further information on self-esteem and
\nthe importance of you!<\/p>\n

Kindness is an easy way to make you and everyone around you smile<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Whether you call a family member or friend that you have not spoken to in a while or tell
\nsomeone how much you appreciate them. There are many ways to be kind to others.
\nHowever, it is just as important to be kind to yourself, which is often the hardest part of
\nkindness.<\/p>\n

Be Kind to Yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u2022 Put positive messages where you will regularly see them
\n\u2022 Write down three things that you appreciate about yourself
\n\u2022 Make sure you spend some time doing something that you enjoy at home
\n\u2022 Do something that makes you feel good \u2013 It could be something simple like dressing
\nsmart for a video call
\n\u2022 Try to smile and laugh as much as possible whether your speaking to someone on the
\nphone or just looking back at pictures or memories for example.<\/p>\n

There are lots of acts of kindness including the ones mentioned above. However it is
\nalso important to remember not to overdo it as you may end up becoming overwhelmed
\nor giving more away than you can handle, which could then have a negative impact on
\nyour mental health.<\/p>\n

It may be worth starting off in a small way with your acts of kindness, so that you do
\nnot end up feeling overwhelmed. Always remember why you are doing that act of
\nkindness and the effect that will have on the other person or people.<\/p>\n

Studies have shown that practicing kindness can boost serotonin and dopamine levels
\nin your brain, which are known as the \u201cfeel good, happy hormones\u201d. Whilst the opposite,
\ncortisol – the \u201cstress hormone\u201d can lead to unhappiness, anger and resentment.<\/p>\n

Consider what you can do to be \u2018kind\u2019 to people both inside the home and out. It
\ncan make a world of difference not just to the person (or people), but to you as an
\nindividual and will be of huge benefit to your own mental health. How can we all be more
\nkind to one another not just now but in the future as well?<\/p>\n

More information<\/h2>\n

If you feel you may need some support, you can contact Care first. Care first is a leading provider of confidential, professional counselling, information and advice services. All employees are eligible to use Care first, our services include; telephone counselling, information services and online support. Call Care first on the Freephone number provided by your organisation and you can speak to a professional in confidence.<\/p>\n

Visit: www.carefirst-lifestyle.co.uk<\/a> to view our articles on health and well-being, or call 0808 168 2143 for in the moment support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018\u2019It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last a lifetime.\u201d ~ Steve Maraboli The physical and psychological benefits of smiling and laughter are plentiful. Research shows that those who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2368"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2372,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions\/2372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/healthandwellbeing-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}