Sucking The Oxygen Out Of The Atmosphere
Atmosphere - "the pervading tone or mood of a place". When I first saw the word of the week, I had the idea of writing about conservation and the environment.
I slept on it and an interaction with one of my super-grumpy staff the next morning made me change my mind and decide on the other definition of 'atmosphere' and that has to do with the mood of a place.
Debbie Downer
Would you like being in the same room as someone who is perpetually frowning, showing no eye-contact when you greet them, gives one word responses? I certainly don't.
Not only are they unhappy, they bring the atmosphere of the entire room down, making everyone on-edge. You just want to avoid them in case you set them off.
This is no way to live life and if it impacts the mood of everyone else, maybe it is best to ask the problem staff to leave if talking to them doesn't resolve the issue. Life is too short.
Smile!
In Dale Carnegie's famous book, "How To Win Friends And Influence People", he talks about the power of a smile. Quoting him from the section on how to make people like you:
Smiles are free to give and have an amazing ability to make others feel wonderful. Smile in everything that you do.
Smiling adds that oxygen back to the atmosphere of a room. People become more comfortable around you instead of being on edge. Conversation flows freely and everyone's happy. Who knew a couple of muscles in the face could impact the mood of an entire room of people?
A scientific study on smiling
In an interesting study done on the effect of smiling on perceptions, found that not only did smiling make you more likeable, it also made people more comfortable around you by making you feel more similar to them.
My Takeaway
I don't smile enough or at least not as much as I'd like to. Don't get me wrong, I rarely walk around with a frown. Most of the time, I have a smile on my face, but it's not one of those mega-watt smiles.
In earlier discussions with @calumam, i've mentioned the coffee stains and also my teeth aren't perfectly straight. They're not the worst but definitely enough to make me conscious of them.
So here's my resolution - to have that megawatt smile by the time i'm 40, which is in a couple of years. What about you? Do you smile as much as you'd like and add happiness and warmth to the atmosphere?
Title Image: Pexels
Smile makes one look younger,smile have a way of reflecting in our lives on the long run...it is good to smile...
It sure is. Whether we're happy or unhappy, we still need to go through life. So we might as well be happy.
I wrote about my morning walks not too long ago and mentioned how I'd decided to smile and say good morning to every person I walked past. I'd say on average, about 20% of people smile back, 60% don't even look, 10% smile and return the good morning, and 10% look at you funny. I've been doing this for a couple of weeks now every morning and I do feel better about the day when I get more smiles back or responses.
Glad to hear that you're taking a proactive step towards teeth whitening. Are you cutting out coffee completely or just changing up your oral hygiene routine?
Wow... saying good morning to folks on the street would be a stretch for folks here. Things have improved but at one point most people were walking around with a frown and get really agitated if something was out of order.
I've cut down from 3 cups a day to 1 cup but it's still about the same. I think we have to completely cut it off to make a big difference. Maybe a straw would work better... I read that's what celebrities use. Will save the cold-turkey for when i go to the dentist for braces.
Maybe I'm in a friendlier place than I realise, lol. Funny that. The weather is usually a determining factor in all honesty.
1 cup isn't bad at all. I have read that it's best to brush afterwards, or mouth wash, that way the coffee doesn't linger and cause any staining. I've heard of people using straws too, although that just seems bizarre for a hot beverage.
I should do that since I usually have that coffee at home these days. It's mostly iced-coffee for me except in winter given the warm temperatures here.
Love the journey you took us on , all the way from thought's to suggested reading to a personal promise thanks for sharing (and ill try to smile tomorrow)
Thank you for reading, @fallingforwards! Hope your smile lights up the room tomorrow!
I'll try my best and thanks again for sharing!
Good post, the funny thing is in the current climate it is hard to show a smile because everyone is wearing covid masks! I think you can still see if someone is happy or not through their eyes though.
Thanks, madstacks! Eyes are the windows to the soul as they say. You're right about the masks. They make everyone seem more 'neutral'.
I like that quote about the smiles. I've been trying to do that more often on my walks or runs, just to smile or say hello to people, especially during the last 12 months. Hopefully it makes a difference or at least provides some sunshine for that brief moment. Keep doing it enough and it becomes a habit and might help towards a more positive mindset.
I know exactly the kind of Debbie Downer characters you mean. They can suck out the atmosphere more powerfully than a Dyson!
I'm sure your smiles made a difference in someone's day. It's amazing how a positive interaction, no matter how brief, can set you up for a good day ahead.
Lol those Dyson vacuum cleaners are awesome, aren't they? Ridiculously priced, though.
You're right about that. I'm going to go for a walk this evening and spread some smiles left, right and center!
Lol! Yeah they are pretty powerful and I guess they are just showing how good their vacuum cleaners are by sucking all the money out of your wallet to buy one haha!
I do not usually smile much, although my sister who is a medical profession tells me repeatedly that smiling secretes serotonin better known as the happiness hormone and that it is highly effective for the body and cells, it is very likely that people who practice a lot laugh live a little longer, without leaving aside that there are people who die from laughing so much, everything or almost everything is subjective
Lol that's true. I remember reading in the Blue Zones that one of the secret to the Okinawan's longevity was the fact that they were generally cheerful which enabled them to have a support community rather than pushing people away.
Dale carnegie has also mentioned the first impression impact On a person especially when meeting someone for the first time and being able to remember his name. It beings him a lot of flattery and joy to his atmosphere:))
Cheers! Great entry
Definitely! Remembering someone's name is something i've worked on. Everyone loves the sound of their name. Or at least most people do, i suppose.
Smiling is a very good to lift one’s spirit. Too and people don’t smile anymore, especially here in the sunny side of the world.
For me I do smile alone even if there no one around to smile at, seems crazy 😝 right.
If I smiled to 100 strangers around here, 99 would either curse you or just give a weird look. It’s either they think you’re trying to make mock them for something they have on or how they look. So everyone’s just going with his/her business.
Only smile to people you know or are related to
Lol I know what you mean. People walking around with frowns on their faces. Keep on smiling even when no one's looking... if nothing else, it makes you happier :)
Exactly my point.
I am surely feeling more better each day. I cherish people around me too which we do like to smile a lot
Nobody cares about your crooked teeth but you. That mega-watt smile will make people's day. Go for it!
Haha thank you! I know-right... It's that saboteur voice in my head talking.
You just need my voice in your head from now on when it comes to the smile ;)