It only takes a smile or a positive gesture to completely brighten someone else’s day!

If you don’t think your actions have an impact on someone else, you might want to reconsider! Recent studies do show that positive interventions aimed at cultivating positive feelings actually can improve someone’s well being and lower their depression levels. Just by slipping a positive mood into someone else’s day, you can enhance their well being and relieve some of their melancholy symptoms.

Of course, this is not always fool-proof. There are several factors that can have an impact on how effective your smile will be, including duration, age of “client”, depression levels, and how willing they are to feel better. But what could it hurt? Smile, hold a door, or say hello to someone on the street; you might be surprised at the results!

Sources:

Sin, Nancy L., and Sonja Lyubomirsky. “Enhancing Well-being and Alleviating Depressive Symptoms with Positive Psychology Interventions: A Practice-friendly Meta-analysis.” J. Clin. Psychol. Journal of Clinical Psychology 65.5 (2009): 467-87. Web. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19301241>