Smile! The many benefits of a big grin, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills

 

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered alonglife’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”  - Joseph Addison

Has this ever happened to you? You’re having a terrible day. Everything is going wrong. It seems as if the universe has pitted itself against you. You walk into a coffee shop, or your dry cleaners, or a gas station. You go up to the person at the cash register and encounter a dazzling smile.  The smile is so warm, so inviting and so sincere that you can’t help but smile back.  All the negative thoughts that crowded your mind dissolve, even if just for a moment. You smile unconsciously and hold open the door for someone coming in. That person sees your happy grin and is compelled to smile in return. And so, one smile creates a chain of good will.  Just a simple upturn of the lips and crinkle of the eyes—that’s all it takes.

Beyond the good cheer a smile can bring to those around you, a smile has numerous health benefits. Being optimistic can help you live longer! Here are just a few examples:

1. Smiling helps you fight off disease.   “The research is very clear,” says Christopher Peterson, Ph.D, a University of Michigan professor, “There is a link between optimistic attitudes and good health. It has been measured in a variety of ways. Overall, we have found that optimistic people are healthier. Their biological makeup is different. They have a more robust immune system.”
2. Smiling helps you live longer.  According to a study published in the November 2004 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, elderly optimistic people, those who expected good things to happen (rather than bad things), were less likely to die than pessimists. In fact, among the 65- to 85-year-old study participants, those who were most optimistic were 55 percent less likely to die from all causes than the most pessimistic people. What’s more, after researchers adjusted the results for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity and other measures of health, the optimists were 71 percent less likely to die than the pessimists.
3. Smiling is better than chocolate.  Acording to The British Dental Health Foundation, a smile gives the same level of stimulation as eating 2,000 chocolate bars. Eating chocolate is said to give you the same feeling as being in love. So the conclusion could be drawn that smiling gives you the same rush you get from being madly in love. Who wouldn’t want that?*

Having a hard time finding that elusive grin? Try visualizing things that make you happy. Listen to your favorite music.  Take a break and walk barefoot on the beach. Share a hot fudge sundae with a friend. Make a child laugh. Remember that everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day. It’s your choice to spend that time in a good mood or wallowing in unhappiness.

SMILE!

The ARISE Choices: Drop It At The Door program is designed specifically to teach participants how to choose their emotions and leave stress and negativity “at the door.” For more information, visit the ARISE website.

*special thanks to sixwise.com for providing info on the research study about smiling.

Homeless Children: How to Help the Economy’s Most Vulnerable Victims

 

One of the risk factors for ending up homeless is if your parents are homeless. In a crumbling economy, rife with job loss and foreclosures, the number of homeless people has started climbing again after experiencing a downturn from 2004-2007.

“‘I’ve never seen it like this before, and I have 30 years of experience working with the homeless,’ said Darlene Newsom, head of the UMOM Day Centers emergency housing project in Phoenix, Arizona, where the number of homeless families seeking services has doubled in the past three months.” (Reuters, March 26,2009)

The Sun Sentinel ran a piece on April 13, 2008, entitled “Economy takes toll on kids” about the South Florida’s growing population of homeless children. Schools are often left to cope with the effects of families that lose their homes. Homeless kids struggle to stay focused, are often stressed, and act out to get attention. Many are teased by their classmates.

Broward County, FL has about 1,600 homeless children enrolled in the school system, according to the article. Palm Beach County has 953. Most of them are living “in shelters, motels and cars, or doubling up with friends or relatives.”

Being homeless puts kids at risk of foregoing their education and turning into homeless adults. “Fewer than one in four graduate from high school, and homeless children worry more and get sick more often than other kids.” (Sun Sentinel)

In addition to the high toll homelessness takes on their own lives, these at-risk kids, should they decide to drop out of school, cost taxpayers milions of dollars as they grow up and become dependant on the state.

So what can be done to give homeless children the tools they need to survive these hard times?  It is possible for homeless and at-risk youth to remain strong and resilient through their families’ struggles. Being homeless as a child does not have to automatically equate to a wasted life.

ARISE Foundation’s vast library of life skills material can help homeless kids build their self esteem, stay in school, handle bullies, manage their anger and experience an outlet for their emotions. ARISE lessons offer kids and teens practical advice, tips and tools to help them make the right decisions. The lessons are best taught in a group environment, where learners can share their experiences, get things off their chests and feel validated and appreciated in spite of their economic situations.

The following ARISE books are ideal for a homelessness prevention program, a support program for youth that are already homeless, a dropout prevention program or a life skills workshop:

1.  Anger Management
2. Self Esteem
3. So You’re Thinking of Dropping Out?
4. Networking, Jobs and Money
5. Learning Strategies and Time Management
6. Violence and Conflict
7. Substance Abuse and Guns

All ARISE material is best taught by certified ARISE Life Skills Facilitators. When you go through the ALSF training, you learn how to bring the learners out of their shells, how to engage and interest them, how to conduct the lessons in a productive way and how to make sure that you get the most out of each book.

To learn more about training or purchase ARISE materials, visit the ARISE Website or call TOLL FREE (888) 680-6100.

10 Quotes to Help You Stay Positive, Brought to You by ARISE Life Skills

1. “I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
   - Martha Washington
2. “Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.” — Frederick Langbridge
3. “In seeking happiness for others, you find it for yourself.” Anonymous
4. “The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
   -Allan K. Chalmers
5. “In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, But the gratefulness that makes us happy.”
   -Albert Clarke
6.  ”What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness, Star-dust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air.
   -Thomas Bailey Aldrich
7. “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger.” -Frederick Nietzsche
8. “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” -Lao-Tzu
9. “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” -Oprah Winfrey
10. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill

For more inspiration or to schedule a CHOICES: Drop It at the Door training in order to learn how to control your anger, manage stress and stay positive, visit the ARISE website.