Smiling is a key and underrated part of mental joy and stability. I knew a girl who used to say Smile so much it was annoying and I even discarded her. Hello, I’d say. SMILE!! she relentlessly boomed back. What I failed to recognize is just how craggy I was, and how I exuded my mood and affected everyone. “When Michael’s happy we’re all good,” I once heard my mother tell a friend. Forcing myself to smile, painful as it was, was one of the techniques that helped to pull me out of a near-suicidal depression 30 years ago. Now I consciously smile every day. It sets the tone. You can’t say the word without doing the action — that’s the beauty of it. I highly endorse this empowering technique and thank Alex Garrett for the reminder.