The first Friday of each October has been designated 'World Smile Day'. It is celebrated in countries around the world, including China. The official website for this day can be found at: http://www.worldsmileday.com/index.php/article-index/item/373-about-world-smile-day.

The origin of the celebration comes from Harvey Ball, a Massachusetts cartoonist, who created the now ubiquitous 'smiley face' in 1963. This drawing, manifest now in many forms, has grown to be one of the most recognized images around the globe. The smiley face on a bright yellow background design was done at the behest of the State Mutual Life Insurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts. This company had recently purchased and merged with another company and morale of employees was low. The company sought an icon which would lift the spirits of employees. The original design was displayed on a button that employees could wear. The design took only a few minutes to create and yet its impact has been momentous.

With no intention of commercializing this design, neither the cartoonist nor the company bothered to protect their intellectual property. Thus, later Walmart was free to use the smiley face in its stores and on television advertisements. They attempted to assert ownership of the design and litigated it for many years before finally losing the argument.

Mr Ball felt that his design had become so commercialized that it was losing its original intent of friendliness, goodwill and happiness. This led him in 1999 to create the World Smile Corporation led to the initiation of "World Smile Day".

A smiley face on a bright background has a lot going for it as does the underlying value of a genuine smile. First of all, a smile is an almost universal non-verbal signal of friendliness, openness and fun. When a person greets you with a smile and friendly manner, you feel warm and somehow the day just got better.

Second, in this time of great tension around the world, a smile is a first and major step towards peace. As Mother Teresa noted, "Peace begins with a smile." That peace is especially important in preserving family harmony. This point was made by poet, Maya Angelou when she admonished us: "If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning 'Good morning' at total strangers."

Third, a smile, like laughter, is very good for you. It can reduce blood pressure, ease tensions, reduce pain, and even result in weight loss. Smiling will also make you feel and appear younger. Remember too, the important point made by playwright, George Bernard Shaw: "We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing."

Smiling is also a reflection of gratitude for the simple, yet fundamentally important things of life which we too often take for granted. As Chad Sugg observed in Monsters Under the Bed: "If you're reading this...Congratulations, you're alive. If that's not something to smile about, then I don't know what is."

Leaders need to remember that it is easy to smile when things are going well. It takes a special person, one with courage and optimism, to smile when the hour is darkest. This is the type of leader who will shine the light that help others find their way forward One never knows, when a smile-even from a stranger-can make a lasting difference in the life of another person. As the saying goes, not every day is good, but there is something good in every day. As far as we can, we should readily share the gift of a smile so that we may be a force for good in the lives of all whom we encounter.

Don't wait to get motivated before you smile. It is often the case that action precedes motivation. In other words, the mere act of making an effort to smile, can lead you to be happier and feel better.

So please, make a commitment to smile more, worry less, and be more compassionate and less judgmental. Legendary comedian and film star, Charlie Chaplin, once wisely proclaimed: "You'll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile." And, in the words of Indian poet, Somya Kedia:

"Dream in colours, for hues are vibrant.

Paint each day with a smile.

In days of past, don't grieve;

Make new deposit to the pleasant memory bank!

Let your life be a reason for others to LIVE."

Eugene Clark is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.h5a3.com/opinion/eugeneclark.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.