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Smile… You’ve Got This!!!

Inspirational Quote

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Dr. Seuss

The Psychology Perspective

About three years ago, I noticed that I was taking things way to seriously. I wasn’t smiling. It seemed that I had lost my path and I sought to re-establish a direction for my life.

The answer came to me in the form of a smile. The Dalai Lama once said…

“A simple smile. That’s the start of opening your heart and being compassionate to others. “

Dalai Lama

What I realized was that I had lost my compassion. I decided to make a morning ritual. A prayer of gratitude… to list anything and everything I was grateful for in that moment. At bedtime, I would do the same, but shift the focus for everything I was grateful for in that day. I began to notice myself smile more… and then a miracle happened. The smile became a happiness habit.

I often tell people to fake it until you make it. This goes with anything in life. As Dr. Seuss reminds us, we should not cry because a journey is over. We should smile because it happened, and made us stronger through the ability we have to solve whatever obstacle stands in our way.

Show gratitude to those you love. Give them a smile. You know what will happen, you will get one back.

©2019 by Dr. Thomas Maples

2 responses to “Inspiration: Smile… You’ve Got This”

  1. great advice, Dr. T ! May I add that many times has a smile from a stranger has snapped me out of depression, in an instant, as if it was a wonder-drug ( it is). Interesting how our popular cultural icons, that seem to be pre-chosen and forced upon us by the big businesses in the music and movie industries, have shown us ( and thus taught us) non-smiling ” tough-guy” character images. Many times, the only time we see smiles in movies or music is when something evil is being done, or, when they mock something or somebody. I fear this repeated showing, and, championing of the “tough-guy” persona is by design. I say this because the producers are aware of the powers of suggestions and imagery, this is the same science that makes advertising and propaganda work. It says much that this science of manipulating human behavior has been kept secret from us, for many many decades. We have seen thousands of documentaries and news-reports on a thousand different subjects, yet, when was the last time you saw a news report or TV show on this subject ? A person has to go out of his way and search to learn of this subject. And it is a very interesting and entertaining subject, yet, we see nothing ! This fact , showing the hiding of a science from the public, proves that we are being manipulated on a mass-scale. When we examine the images, music, and stories being offered, it shows that we are being degraded, in ways opposite of what God and Jesus and His messengers want. Something very wrong is happening. Dr. T, don’t feel obliged to publish this extended comment, sorry to run-on.

    • Dr. Thomas Maples – Stockton, California – Dr. Thomas Maples, Ph.D. is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and the founder of The Stockton Therapy Network. As a Marriage and Family Therapist, he has helped many people resolve interpersonal conflict, heal from the emotional distress, and overcome mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and issues that result from personality disorders. He also specializes in helping couples resolve interpersonal problems, marital discord, and parent / child relationship conflicts by helping his clients identify the sources of relationship conflict, find areas of growth they can agree to engage, and setting a plan to enact those changes to assure relational growth. As a researcher and writer, Dr. Maples focuses on developmental, analytical, and psychoanalytic methods of psychology. Through his writings, Dr. Tom has helped countless people understand, plan, and implement effective paths to reach optimal psychological, spiritual, and physiological development. "Advance Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams."
      Dr. Thomas Maples says:

      😊 I am very happy to publish and comment on this. It is correct. When we look to a phone, instead of a child’s smile to understand the meaning of life, there is something fundamentally wrong.

      I did not say foundational, but this is for a reason. We are learning, developing beings, and when we cannot make sense of what is, we all too often turn to what was. The key is, let it go, so you can move on to what will become… Merry Christmas everyone. Rejoice in the new birth. I am soooo excited to wake up with my two sons to see there Christmas joy!!!

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