Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella was a popular song in the Sixties.  Its message is universal.  Wherever you are on this earth, a smile will improve your experience.  The physical act of smiling actually changes our body and it warms the people around us. 

A smile can change our mood and the mood of others.  The simple act of a smile can change other people’s day – you can alter their mood with a smile.

Our smile is but one indicator of a positive mood.  A frown is an indicator of a negative mood.  Our moods are somewhat simplistic.  They’re in either the good mood range or the bad mood range.  They’re not nearly as complex as emotions. 

The interesting thing about moods is that they are contagious.  Your good mood will transmit itself to those in your presence just as another person’s good mood will transmit itself to you.  The same is true for a negative mood. 

Some people are especially powerful mood transmitters.  When in their company, people can’t help but respond to their strong mood transmissions.  If they are of good cheer, so is everyone around them.  When they enter a room, the mood is changed.  If they exude a good mood, they are spreading the love, so to speak.  Some, unfortunately, spread their pain.

Psychologists believe that people with strong mood transmitters have particularly expressive faces and gestures.  These are the people who are most at ease expressing their emotions.  Watch for it at your next social gathering or at work tomorrow.  Try it out yourself – start with a smile.

Do you want to change your mood?  Do you want to change the mood of the people around you?  What about an improved mood at the dinner table?  It’s easy to do.  Start with a smile.  Then move onto an upbeat conversation or tell a story that will capture the attention of the others.  In no time, everyone will have caught the mood you’ve introduced.

Even the mood at a business meeting can be altered by the mood of the leader.  It can run from positive and can-do to terror, stress and failure.

Movies, books and songs can elevate our mood.  Think of the people coming out after a movie.  Their mood will likely mirror the tone set by the movie.  Think of everyone at the last concert you attended.  They likely mirrored the mood set by the music and musicians. 

Wherever we are, whomever we are with, our mood is likely influenced by the present moment.