Smiles have more power than you think…  At GiveForward we’re firm believers in the power of smiling (and of hugging).  Now we have the scientific proof to back it up.

This TED Talk, by Ron Gutman, founder and CEO of HealthTap, explores a number of different studies into the power of smiling.  He cites one 30-year longitudinal study that showed that those who smiled the widest ranked highest in terms of long and fulfilling marriages, how highly they scored on standardized test of well-being and general happiness, and how inspiring they would be to others.

Another study analyzed baseball cards and found the span of a baseball player’s smile on his card could actually predict how long the player would live.  Anthropological studies showed that smiling is cross-cultural and has the same meaning in different societies.

It is pretty amazing to think that smiling is the one thing that transcends languages, prolongs lives and there is even proof that babies smile in the womb!

If these studies alone don’t inspire you to get smiling (and make someone else smile), maybe this will.

Because there was too much smile-inducing info to put into one post, we thought we’d just share the video:

The Untapped Power of Smiling