Smiling

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I am always confused about when to smile and when not too. i'm worried that if i don't smile people will think me weird. ( not that they don't already)

I've learned to smile out of habit after someone tells a joke, says hi, etc. Sometimes the smiles are geniune; sometimes they're just socially required.

I've learned that in most cases it's better to smile rather than not. It makes other people smile back, usually . I was told that if you go about with a serious look on your face (as I often do) people interpret it as unhappy and displeased with the current situation/people around you.

Just don't smile at someone when someone is being serious or angry, because they might think you are making fun of them.

smiling is good. I think that if you're unsure, just smile. It can catch people off guard, like if someones being bitchy, just grin at them and they won't know what to think. *chuckle*

Smile when saying hi, you'll look a lot more friendly if you do so.

But what if they don't smile back???

Well, after reading your post yesterday, I paid attention to this today, people who don't smile back usually have a serious look, and are not easy to talk to, (to ask them for something for example) and as a result you will try to avoid them in general.

Not smiling (or smiling back) will make me nervous when dealing with the person, a smile can make things much better.

For years, people told me "you don't smile enough." (even though sometimes I was smiling!)

(that's stupid isn't it? how much is enough?)

Now when people tell me "smile!" or "you're allowed to laugh" I pull faces.

Yes, you're right! Smiling is a whole lot better. I've noticed that sometimes, when I see someone smiling at me and I smile back even though I'm not in a very happy mood, it actually helps me feel a whole lot better. This also works if I make the effort to smile even when I'm not happy and someone else starts smiling because of it. So try smiling!

I smile at the wrong times sometimes.
"My house got destroyed in a hurricane" ::smile::
"My grandma died" ::smile::

Sometimes people will ask me, 'What's wrong?' just because I'm not smiling. I guess I must look sad or angry. But usually when they ask me that, nothing is wrong. Do people just expect me to go around with a huge grin all the time?

Here's a guy that never ever knew when to smile. That hurt me really bad throughout life. My normal "look" is very cold and emotionless even when I am happy. So this year I have been working on changing that and it has much more positive results.

Yep, used to do that as well, now I pay attention more and make sure the story isn't sad, this is a bit hard for me, as I can't pay full attention most of the time, I always have my own thoughts going on in my mind.

Have you ever seen those t-shirts that say "smile it confuses people" and "I smile because I'm insane" ? well I find that alot of the time thats true.

Heh. I am prone to smile and even laugh when someone gets really serious. It is always because I've noticed some detail that everyone else has missed, that would actually be funny to them if they could get beyond the rant this other person is on. This has happened from time to time for as long as I can remember, though now I try to cover it up...

Oh, man. This used to happen to me all of the time. People want you to pretend to be happy all of the time, because apparently they do it. Like when they ask you how you're doing, all they really want to hear is 'fine' or 'good' most of the time. If you bust out the real truth, they want to run away.

I had the hardest time smiling for photographs until I was an adult. I used to feel, and say, that I was not able to smile on command.