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/p>She used to say “MaryJo, you need to smile or that frown will freeze to your face.” Looking back, I have to laugh as my Mother had a perpetual frown on her face if she didn’t realize she was being watched. It made me sad. “Why is my Mother so unhappy all the time?” Her public persona, however, was a perpetual smile.She didn’t know this, but the act of smiling makes us feel better. I’m no Pollyanna. I’m not suggesting you smile when you have to put your cat down because she’s dying from a malignant tumor and in pain.There are times for tears. Times for the healing that comes from tears.But scientists know that smiling creates neurological changes.<blockquote id="5420">“When you smile, your brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides to help fight off stress. Then other neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins come into play too. The endorphins act as a mild pain reliever, whereas the serotonin is an antidepressant. . . . smiling can help us recover faster from stress and reduce our heart rate.” <a href="https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2019">https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2019</a></blockquote>In addition to smiling when you don’t feel like it, you can perk yourself up (and thus your immune system and general well-being) with these activities.Do one now.<ul><li>Eat an ice cream bar</li><li>Remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg</li><li>Take a nap</li><li>Listen to Bach (or your favorite music which probably isn’t Bach)</li><li>Dance (even if you’re lousy — only the cat sees you and she doesn’t care.)</li><li>Read a new book; reread a favorite book</li><li>Look at the cartoons in The New Yorker or funny memes on Facebook.</li><li>Go outdoors</li><li>Walk or go on a hike</li><li>Pet your cat (or dog)</b

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</li><li>Sit on a park bench</li><li>Have a piece of chocolate</li><li>Drink some cold water</li><li>Drive to a favorite place</li><li>Remind yourself you’re a great mom, a great granddad, a great friend, a great son</li><li>Sing</li><li>Say “hi” to the grocery clerk and ask how she’s doing</li><li>Yell and make a lot of noise (not at someone)</li><li>Bake some cookies and take a few to your neighbor</li><li>Make a list of 10 things we take for granted: a toothbrush, coffee in the morning, the comfy chair in your office, a book to read, a friend to text, watching people with their kids and dogs walk by outside your window.</li><li>Add 10 more things to the list. Or 100.</li></ul>This is not to ignore serious depression, sadness over a death, disappointment that we can’t fly across the country right now to see our family.But purposely doing something that feels good and changes the neurological pattern in the brain takes the edge off. If done consistently, it improves the quality of our life during these difficult times.So smile. Smile at yourself in the mirror. Smile at your cat. Choose something off my list or your list to break the gloom.Meditation helps too. Check out some tips here.<div id="fa97" class="link-block">

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            <h2>Meditating in a Hoodie</h2>
            <div><h3>Easy Meditation for Writers with ADHD</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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What You Can Do When The World Around Us Is Falling Apart

Feel-Good Tips to Go from Depressed to Yippee!

Licensed by 123RF; copyright, Michael Simons

I forgot to smile yesterday. I let myself go into that deep place of what’s wrong outside my sheltered home office: COVID-19, racial injustice, wild fires, smoke from the wild fires, divisive political battles filled with hate, corrupt and dishonest politicians, U.S. troops still in Afghanistan . . .

And what’s wrong inside my sheltered home office: piles of unsorted papers everywhere, too many books not neatly in the book case, wastebasket not emptied, soup bowl on the floor when it should be in the dishwasher. Not to mention dozens of to-do lists and sticky notes.

Then there’s the perennial: Not Enough Work Finished. Wait, let’s call it “NEWF.” Hmm, that has nice ring to it. It could be a verb. I “newfed” today. I “newfed” yesterday. I hope I don’t “newf” tomorrow.

Closer to home in my heart but not in person, I worry about a teenage grandson in New Hampshire and a 20-something granddaughter in Ohio, both of whom are struggling right now.

And Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died.

This was during one of those every-so-often days when the long-term aches, pains, and fatigue from chemotherapy of 8 years ago are worse than usual. I took 3 or 4 naps to mitigate the fatigue. Each nap was followed by beating myself up for “newfing”— not that I could have accomplished anything given the exhaustion and brain fog.

I forgot to smile. I forgot to think of one tiny thing among thousands that I’m thankful for.

She used to say “MaryJo, you need to smile or that frown will freeze to your face.” Looking back, I have to laugh as my Mother had a perpetual frown on her face if she didn’t realize she was being watched. It made me sad. “Why is my Mother so unhappy all the time?” Her public persona, however, was a perpetual smile.

She didn’t know this, but the act of smiling makes us feel better. I’m no Pollyanna. I’m not suggesting you smile when you have to put your cat down because she’s dying from a malignant tumor and in pain.

There are times for tears. Times for the healing that comes from tears.

But scientists know that smiling creates neurological changes.

“When you smile, your brain releases tiny molecules called neuropeptides to help fight off stress. Then other neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins come into play too. The endorphins act as a mild pain reliever, whereas the serotonin is an antidepressant. . . . smiling can help us recover faster from stress and reduce our heart rate.” https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2019

In addition to smiling when you don’t feel like it, you can perk yourself up (and thus your immune system and general well-being) with these activities.

Do one now.

Eat an ice cream bar
Remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Take a nap
Listen to Bach (or your favorite music which probably isn’t Bach)
Dance (even if you’re lousy — only the cat sees you and she doesn’t care.)
Read a new book; reread a favorite book
Look at the cartoons in The New Yorker or funny memes on Facebook.
Go outdoors
Walk or go on a hike
Pet your cat (or dog)
Sit on a park bench
Have a piece of chocolate
Drink some cold water
Drive to a favorite place
Remind yourself you’re a great mom, a great granddad, a great friend, a great son
Sing
Say “hi” to the grocery clerk and ask how she’s doing
Yell and make a lot of noise (not at someone)
Bake some cookies and take a few to your neighbor
Make a list of 10 things we take for granted: a toothbrush, coffee in the morning, the comfy chair in your office, a book to read, a friend to text, watching people with their kids and dogs walk by outside your window.
Add 10 more things to the list. Or 100.

This is not to ignore serious depression, sadness over a death, disappointment that we can’t fly across the country right now to see our family.

But purposely doing something that feels good and changes the neurological pattern in the brain takes the edge off. If done consistently, it improves the quality of our life during these difficult times.

So smile. Smile at yourself in the mirror. Smile at your cat. Choose something off my list or your list to break the gloom.

Meditation helps too. Check out some tips here.

Meditating in a Hoodie

Easy Meditation for Writers with ADHD

medium.com