nPostednon May 7, 2014
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Onnthe first Wednesday in May, we are urged to smile more, frown less,nand maybe even have fun!
Onnthe first Wednesday in May, we are urged to smile more, frown less,nand maybe even have fun!n
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nThenwoman who started the holiday years ago once organized a drive-bynsmiling. She and some local students stood at an intersection withnsigns. On the signs, there were no slogans, no complaints –ninstead, they had giant smiley faces!
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nAnotherntime Smile Mania members wore clown-noses, blew bubbles atnpassers-by, and handed out bananas. Why bananas? Because they looknlike smiles, of course!
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nThisnsort of silliness is actually serious. Janice Hathy, founder of SmilenMania, points out that a negative attitude can impact your health andnthat smiling actually makes you happier.
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nOnnthe flip side, some psychology professors talk about the tyranny ofnpositivity in the U.S. – they point out that messages that sayn“Smile – be happy – have a nice day!” can bencounter-productive. These messages can make it seem as if there isnonly one acceptable facial expression – a smile – and only onenacceptable feeling – happiness. “If you DON’T feel happy, there’snsomething wrong with you,” these messages seem to say. They maybeneven say, “Just fake it!” n
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nSomenpeople view the positive attitude / negative attitude discussion asnbeing political. If we are never supposed to complain, how cannanything get better? If we are supposed to smile, are we alsonsupposed to accept things as they are? Even if that means acceptingnbullying, or racism, or unfairness?
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nIndon’t think that Hathy wants people to stop speaking out againstnunfairness or to accept the unacceptable. Actually, working to rightnwrongs is a very positive thing to do, isn’t it? I believe thatnaccepting a bad situation is the more negative response, as if youncannot believe that things COULD be good!
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If you check out the Smile Mania website, you will see thatnHathy has used a very silly picture and some pretty funny words, too,nto encourage us to give our grumpy side a rest for the day. I amnpretty sure that anyone who can come up with clown noses, bubbles andnbananas doesn’t have a tyrannical bone in her body!
If you check out the Smile Mania website, you will see thatnHathy has used a very silly picture and some pretty funny words, too,nto encourage us to give our grumpy side a rest for the day. I amnpretty sure that anyone who can come up with clown noses, bubbles andnbananas doesn’t have a tyrannical bone in her body!n
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nAlsonon this date:
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Writer, composer, and artist Rabindranath Tagore’s birthday
Writer, composer, and artist Rabindranath Tagore’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof the recovery of the painting ThenScream
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nAnniversarynof the recovery of the painting ThenScream
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nMathematiciannAlexis Claude Clairaut’s birthday
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nMathematiciannAlexis Claude Clairaut’s birthday
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nCelebratenComposers Day
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nCelebratenComposers Day
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nBrahms’snbirthday
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nTchaikovsky’snbirthday
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nTchaikovsky’snbirthday
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nAnniversarynof the world premiere of Beethoven’s NinthnSymphony
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nAnniversarynof the world premiere of Beethoven’s NinthnSymphony
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nPlannahead:
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nPlannahead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nMayn holidays
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nMayn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in May
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJunen holidays
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nJunen birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in June
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