posted April 25, 2007 12:34 PM         

"Smile, it's free therapy."

-- Doug Horton

I’ve learned that if I put a smile on my face when I’m feeling down, my spirits will automatically lift. The body knows that a smile means happiness.

Knowing this doesn’t mean I’m always willing to do it. Many times, I have absolutely refused to cheer myself up. Isn’t that interesting!

It’s a clue that sometimes the ego positively enjoys being miserable. It can be enlightening to explore the pay-offs we get from our black moods.

"Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure misery there is never any recourse to the mention of it."

-- Samuel Johnson