Welcome to Love Notes from Rhonda.

And what a beautiful day it is.

And it just makes me want to smile.

Do you ever smile for no reason at all?

Do you know that there's more muscles needed in your face to frown than there are to smile?

And do you know that smiling in and of itself, just smiling, actually changes your body chemistry?

So today I put out an invitation to you is how much can you practice smiling now?

Smiling authentically would be preferred.

Yet even if you've got a smile and you're not quite feeling it, I invite you to practice smiling and finding something to smile about.

Now, that takes skill.

When we're moving through our life, it is easy to have no expression, right?

Just go through the day, get things done.

I remember I used to waitress, and I'd be putting my drinks together on my tray from the bar to go to my tables, and the bartender or a customer would be like, smile.

And I'm like, I'm just getting my drinks together.

I'm not smiling at my drinks, right?

Like, I'm just getting my drinks together.

There's nothing wrong with me.

And who likes to be told to smile from a customer anyway, right?

And you know, it was always the opposite sex, a guy.

So it's very controlling.

It felt very controlling.

Now, hopefully it doesn't feel that way from me to you.

Hopefully you know that I'm asking you to experiment in how it feels to smile, whether it's an authentic smile or whether you're practicing smiling and finding.

Practicing finding things to smile about regardless of what's happening around you.

It's one of the way we regulate our emotions when we make a choice of how to show up regardless of all those feelings that are moving through us.

Because feelings are feelings.

They just flow like a river, right?

We can't change our feelings, make our feelings go away, et cetera, but we can change our behavior, which, by the way, changes our feelings.

So today I just invite you to think about smiling.

How often do you do it?

How often don't you do it?

What do you do when you get angry at somebody?

What do you do when you're trying to flirt?

What are you doing as you're making your way through the day?

Do you meet a stranger's eyes and smile?

Do you get on an elevator and smile?

Or do you get on the elevator, like, don't talk to me.

How do you operate in this world?

And where is your smile and who gets it?

Who gets to see that beautiful smile of yours?

So if this is uncomfortable for you, I invite you just to go into the restroom, the comfort of your bathroom, and look in the mirror and practice smiling and saying nice things to yourself about your smile.

I'm not asking you to, you know, navigate.

You know, point out everything with your teeth or your lips.

No, that's not what it's about.

It's about smiling.

Smiling is so powerful.

It's so powerful.

And you are in charge of your mood.

You are in charge of your mindset.

You're in charge of your attitude.

When you choose to smile and think about how you smile, do you smile all teeth, no teeth?

I do it all.

I smile big.

I smile small.

Closed lips, open lips, showing my teeth, opening my mouth.

So you.

You know, it's like my teeth aren't together sometimes.

Teeth together.

So I smile.

I do it all.

And where.

Where's your comfort level with your smile?

So today I invite you to think about smiling and doing a lot more of it.

And you know what you're going to have to do to do that?

Find out all the reasons in your life why smiling is the perfect response.

Until next time, be fearless.