Our assignment was to write a persuasive speech.
I liked it a lot, and so here it is:
Learn from A Fool Sitting
in Their Own Tears
Instantly, most of you are probably going to disagree
with me, but that is okay because Google does, too. When I typed my topic into
the search engine, every result said exactly the opposite of what I typed in. The
side I am arguing will seem sad at first, and will probably make you think,
“Why on Earth would I ever agree with that?” But if you listen close enough to
what I am saying, you will realize that my words are not sad; in fact, they are
just the opposite. With what I am saying, I am encouraging you to live a more
emotional life-which is not a bad thing. Instead of smiling more like everyone
says to, I want you to smile less. In unnecessary situations, such as when you
are unhappy or someone tells you to, you should not fake or force your smile,
in order to avoid hiding your true feelings.
Studies show that the simple act of smiling
can automatically make you happier. “The feel good neurotransmitters dopamine,
endorphins and serotonin are all released when a smile
flashes across your face” (Schulman). Because of this, numerous online sources
advise you to smile when you are feeling sad “because our faces seem to
communicate our states of mind not only to others, but to ourselves” (Wenner). Keeping
this in mind, one time I was on the floor crying my heart out about something. My
face was hot, my hair was in my mouth, and my hands were red; needless to say,
I was pretty sad. But I remembered this fact about faking a smile, and I figured
I should try it out. I flashed the biggest smile I could with teeth showing and
all. At the same time, I happened to look up and saw my reflection in a mirror
and the first thing I thought was, ‘Man…I look so stupid.’ It was in that
moment I realized that even if I did feel better, I do not always have to
strive for happiness. It is okay to be sad and more importantly, it is okay to not smile. I looked stupid not because I
was a mess on the floor, but rather because I had a smile on my face that did
not belong there.
Smiling when you are not happy can
have long-term effects on you. Emily Waters, with a masters degree in industrial
Psychology, says “Researchers say that over time, putting on a fake smile can
actually cause people to associate smiling with feeling unhappy, […] causing not
only temporary confusion, but a sense of uneasiness” (“The Sad Truth”). So going
back to me sitting there on the floor, I felt worse than I had after I smiled,
because I realized I was being irrational and ignorant of my true feelings.
With what I am sure has happened to
you before, happens to me at least a few times a week: someone tells me to
smile. Thinking about this quickly, you would probably say it is a nice gesture
because I have people who clearly want me to be happy because they want me to smile.
But I think this is one of the worst things you could tell someone to do. By
telling someone to smile, you are actually telling them to push their true emotions
away, and to force a fake smile. Instead of telling them how to look, you
should be doing something small to try to make them want to smile. Or maybe they are not sad, but rather they just do
not feel like smiling. Either way, “it’s not someone else’s responsibility to
suppress their emotions to make you feel better… Do not tell people [how] to
look or feel” (“Stop Telling People”).
Even Google told me to smile. As I
mentioned in the beginning, when I typed into Google, “reasons you should not
smile,” I only got titles back like “top seven reasons to smile” and
“scientific reasons why you should smile more.” Not many people seem to gets
it, not even the all-knowing Google. When somebody tells me to smile, I usually
over-exaggerate it, and tell them that I would look ridiculous if I walked
around like this all day. But next time someone tells you to smile, I challenge
you to not do it if you do not feel like it, because you have every right to
express how you are feeling. You have no obligation to feel like you have to
put on a fake smile for those around you.
I am not
telling you to never smile. I just want for you to realize that you have
emotions for a reason. Being sad is what makes being happy so great. Being
angry is what makes being calm so relaxing. Frowning is what makes your smile
so beautiful. I want you to never feel the pressure of having to put on a fake
or forced smile for yourself or for those around you. When you smile less, you
will realize what things in this world you cannot help but to smile at. Because
there are things in this world that make you want to smile, and I am not
telling you to ever resist that urge. If you want to smile, then by all means,
go on and smile; but if you do not want to, than don’t. Some of the time, the world
is telling you to smile more, but for the wrong reasons. I am telling you to
smile less, but for the right reasons.
Works Cited
Schulman, Polly, Gina Barreca Ph.D., Hara Estroff Marano, and
Barry X. Kuhle Ph.D. "There's
Magic In
Your Smile." Psychology Today. Sussex, 25 June 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
"Stop Telling People (Especially Women) To Smile."
Odyssey. Odyssey, 08 Dec. 2015. Web. 30 Mar.
2017.
"The Sad Truth about Your Smile." World of
Psychology. Psych Central, 03 Sept. 2014. Web.
31 Mar.
2017.
Wenner, Melinda. "Smile! It Could Make You
Happier." Scientific American. Springer Nature,
18 Aug.
2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2017.
