How do you start being peppy?

How do you stop being sad?

No one likes to be sad. It feels a million times better to be peppy and fun, than to be sad. Everyone likes a lively person more than one who sucks the joy out of the room.

The truth is, no one cares about you as much as you do for yourself, and definitely not forever. So it's up to you to find your way out of your problems.

There are a million solutions to being sad. Speak about your feelings. Share with your friends; in fact, share with anyone, even a rock! Go to a counsellor. Listen to some music. Stop thinking so much. Read a book. Remind yourself that the past doesn't matter. Exercise. I'm sure you'd have heard all of these before.

But there's something much simpler than any of these things to rescue you from the abyss you feel yourself falling through. You may think you're only sinking deeper with time, getting harder to recover back to the surface with anything, but believe it or not, there's a solution that doesn't require much effort from your side. Just smile. :)

Smile. Smiling helps so much, even if it's just fake. At first it's fake, confined to only your mouth, but slowly it spreads to your eyes, too. And just like that, a fake smile turns into a real one! Smiling sends signals to your brain that causes the release of chemicals that make you feel happy for real. This is the way to trick your body into giving you what you want; after all, it's you who's in control of your body, not the other way around! You could also add breathing exercises to this. You could practice smile meditation, something that I've personally found useful.

A smile can achieve anything. Once, I was really tensed about an Anatomy viva, wherein professors pick a bone of the human body and ask students to explain the parts of it and other things. When it was my turn, I wished the teacher a good morning with a wide, genuine smile, and to my surprise, she replied with a, "Well since you're smiling so nicely, pick whichever bone you want." I picked one of the easiest, and my viva well considerably well. Voilà! The smile magic had worked to my benefit.

Other than just forcing a smile every time you feel sad, it's quite helpful to remember to keep that smile on your face at all times. This will keep the positive thoughts going, in your head, and keep your mood peppy and upbeat throughout the day! Also, this will help to do the one thing that'll reinforce your happiness; it'll spread to others! We know that smiles are contagious, and what's an easier way to happiness than making others happy?

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.