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Crack a smile, go ahead, no one is looking… And if your kids are looking, they will likely smile too!

Our smile is our body’s natural expression of our happiness to the world around us.  A smile is an indicator of our level of satisfaction with life at this exact moment.

The more we smile, the more satisfying life really is.

Have you ever experienced something truly wonderful like falling in love or holding a sleeping baby?  Have you ever watched a child experience something new and exciting for the first time and watched their eyes light up and their unstoppable smile?  Have YOU ever experienced something new and exciting for the first time and felt YOUR eyes light up and YOUR unstoppable smile?

But, have you ever just smiled for NO REASON?

The SMILE Experiment

Where you are right now, just start smiling.  As you read this, crack a smile.  Yes, it is seemingly for no reason at all, and right now the reason to smile is simply to smile.  I know it sounds almost silly, but if you will work with me on this you will see how you can use a smile to shift the course of your day.  In fact, you can use a smile to shift the course of someone else’s day too, and yes, even your kids.

At first it will feel like an unauthentic smile, but stick with it and keep smiling at you.

Pretend you are having a photograph taken and it’s the one you want others to see.

Now, Add Some Thoughts

As you are smiling at your reflection, start to think about the reasons you have to be grateful in your life right now.

Direct your thoughts toward people in your life with whom you have a relationship you cherish deeply.

Direct your thoughts toward all you have in your life for which to be grateful and how happy you are to have the opportunity to experience life and how happy you are for this moment in time.

Okay, experiment is over.  How do you FEEL?

You may be feeling energized and generally happier inside, or you may even be gushing with joy and filled with inspiration to change the world.

Either way you are likely feeling happier, and that is the point.

Our own smile can have a very powerful effect on us, and the effect it has on others is truly amazing, especially our children.

Our Happiness Brings True Joy to Our Children.

One of the greatest keys to raising happy children is to be a model of happiness.

The next time you look at your child, without words, give them a true smile.

You will instantly see an authentic smile on their face.

Watch how your day and theirs unfolds when you can start your day with a smile.

Share with your kids your reasons to smile and have them share their reasons to smile with you.

Yes it is true there are bountiful reasons to be unhappy and many reasons to frown, and we certainly don’t have to look hard to find them.  In fact for many people unhappiness is just a way of life and for so many kids unhappiness is the norm and happiness occurs on rare occasions.

However, the happiness of our children is worth the small effort it takes to shift the focus of our thoughts to those that make us smile, and doing so models for our children that they too can find the reasons inside to smile too.

Everyone deserves to smile more often and the reasons to smile take only some directed thought.

Smile for NO REASON then add some thoughts of reasons to smile…

Our world will benefit when we all can feel more often…

The POWER OF A SMILE

Just a reminder – The Happier Kids Now On-Line Expo for Parents and Teachers is really heating up with an incredible line-up of expert guest speakers to interview.

This will be the most comprehensive and content rich interview series to help parents and teachers raise happy, confident and resilient kids and teens of 2010.

Sign up for this amazing FREE event here, and share this with every parent and teacher you know.

They WILL thank you for it!

Sunday, April 18th at 8:30 am (EST), ya, so thats 6:30 am my time here in Denver, I will be a guest on the morning drive show on CKLW AM 800 Detroit/Windsor to talk about Kids Can Do Anything, An Exercise in Happiness and the upcoming Happier Kids Now! event slated for October 2010.

So, if you are in the Detroit/Windsor Ontario area on Sunday April 18th, please tune into AM 800 CKLW (the 5000 watt Monster) at 8:30 am.

Pressure on students and teachers continues to intensify, while resources are drying up and traditional educational methods are failing. Our kids are paying a terrible price, not only in academic achievement but in emotional health. Stress related health problems, youth violence, drug abuse and depression are rising at alarming rates and will continue rise unless serious action is taken, NOW!

The urgency to help our children has reached a critical level. Though children represent only a part of the population, they represent 100% of our future and to see they are given tools to navigate through life with optimism and self-confidence is our job, their parents and teachers, and certainly one we must take seriously.

As a parent of two young people I see first hand the stress they and their peers are under at school and being very involved at their school and I can see, and feel the pressure their teachers are under as well.

Millions of adults across America, and across the globe for that matter are feeling more stress than ever before in our lifetimes and the reasons for these increasing stress levels are obvious.

You can turn on the local or national news and be inundated with pessimism, uncertainty and sadness which can’t help but make matters even worse.

According to Harvard Medical School, the rate of clinical diagnosis of depression in children has been increasing by 23% per year, and that onset ages continue to decrease.

It seems every day we are reminded of how bad things are and this is clearly effecting our children.  However, at the same time ground breaking studies are confirming that we can empower our kids to weather this storm and grow from these experiences, and that we can actually instill emotional habits in our kids that will buffer them against anxiety and depression.

The Time is NOW!

Our kids are in the midst of developing beliefs about themselves, their ability to succeed, other people, money, relationships and of course their future.  We did the same thing, in fact most of the self-limiting beliefs that hold back so many adults from living the life they really want were developed before six years old.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were somewhere a parent or teacher can go to get information on the latest research and learn powerful techniques to empower themselves and their kids to live a full and happy life?

Well, Now There Is… and its happening in October 2010

Happier Kids NOW!

Happier Kids Now will provide you with tools to help your children and teens:

• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Improve concentration and academic performance
• Understand the brain science linking emotions, thoughts and behaviors
• Manage emotions and behavior more effectively
• Develop greater empathy for others and the world
• Be more optimistic and happy

Visit HappierKidsNow.com and register to receive V.I.P notification of dates, times, access information and up to date additions of Expert Guest Speakers, in addition to special FREE gifts and offers:)

“Research on kids’ confidence and intelligence has discovered that smart kids who were aware of their intelligence do not always translate their academic abilities into emotional strength. Kids who scored extremely high on their IQ tests and were praised for their smartness were less likely to try new tasks that seemed hard for them.” Continue reading

“When you’re in the universe, you’re going to encounter a number of people and situations. However, it’s how you react to these situations that will determine the course of your life and the length of the path to your dreams.” Continue reading

“You’re giving your child a leg up if you spend more time with them, read to them more, sing to them more, play with them more,” he said, “not if you park them in front of a DVD or an iPhone app.” Continue reading

Hi this is Patrick with Kidscandoanything.com and I want to welcome you to the third in our ongoing series of short video articles that we’ve put together to give you some short tips and tools as to how to instill emotional intelligence into your children.

Well, today’s article is all about the life-long benefits that your children receive from instilling in them the trait of optimism and into yourself, especially now during the economic climate that our country is in.   There is a lot of things in the media, a lot of reasons to look at things pessimistically in terms of our economic future or your family’s economic future, well your children pick up on that very, very quickly and they start to develop beliefs. Continue reading