Discussion How do some people actually smile all the time?

[ericwilkinson]

I was in a youth group and this girl smiled all the time. She was "positive" and I liked it because she wasn't one of those "be positive" people, she actually had things to be positive about in life. She was good looking, had a good job as well as rich parents, and was smart. She also came and chatted to me when i hadn't chatted to her.

Now people say that those who are the happiest hide their demons but that doesn't seem to be the case. They genuinely seem happy. How is that?

Do you know someone who is happy with their life and doesn't want to suicide?

 

[Ko9]

1: Some people are happy all the time, some sad all the time. Some people are hot and successful, and some people are ugly and losers. It is easy to be happy when things turn out well.
2: I know a few people who are happy. Or at least say they do and I do not doubt them.

 

[Oblivion Lover]

Well, some people are just actually happy most of the time, or they're just faking it to please others, or even worse they have been brainwashed into thinking that life is perfect and all that stupidity. The girl you mentioned seem to be genuinely happy. It is weird in other cases, though... There's something definitely suspicious about people that are just smiling all the time without a clear reason. From my experience those are the ones with a lot of skeletons in their closets.

 

[inconsequential]

I fake it very well. Raise my voice around an octave, lift my sentences slightly at the end, smile.

And then the face drops when they pass me.

 

[Empty Smile]

I could smile a lot too, but 98% of the time, they are empty smiles...

 

[pole]

not really. people have two sides to them. i have friends who ID NEVER think would be depressed. There really good looking, have a great job my age, great social group, but they struggled and went through stuff. Some people are better at hiding it than others. Friends who just looked so happy, joyful, and went above and beyond and helped others and were so supportive and good people.

"I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anyone else to feel like that". RW.

I felt and looked happy at work, and that completely changed as i stepped outside of work. How people look and act on the outside isn't equivalent to how they feel on the inside. some suffer through it in silence with a smile on their face to hide it, while others just dont even care anymore.

In all, its just hard to tell.

 

[Final Escape]

Good drugs lol! Not very bright. They are part joker

 

[Divine Trinity]

I was in a youth group and this girl smiled all the time. She was "positive" and I liked it because she wasn't one of those "be positive" people, she actually had things to be positive about in life. She was good looking, had a good job as well as rich parents, and was smart. She also came and chatted to me when i hadn't chatted to her.

Now people say that those who are the happiest hide their demons but that doesn't seem to be the case. They genuinely seem happy. How is that?

Do you know someone who is happy with their life and doesn't want to suicide?

Because despite the temptation of broadly stroking the world with one brush, in this case a brush called cynicism, some people have a good upbringing and no traumatic experiences.

Affluent parents who are educated enough, have time, and desire to raise a child + regarded as attractive by cultural standards + a corrupt system that said parents can "influence" in your favor = one happy boy/girl.

For that person's "happiness" 10s of thousands suffer on their behalf, an equal amount will be as miserable and desperate.

 

[a_strange_day]

used to smile a lot when I was young, not because I was happy but because people dont ask you anything real as long as you seem fine. today I dont smile anymore and dont even try. odly it works just as well. extremes seems to make people really uncomfortable

 

[DreamCatcher]

I was in a youth group and this girl smiled all the time. She was "positive" and I liked it because she wasn't one of those "be positive" people, she actually had things to be positive about in life. She was good looking, had a good job as well as rich parents, and was smart. She also came and chatted to me when i hadn't chatted to her.

Now people say that those who are the happiest hide their demons but that doesn't seem to be the case. They genuinely seem happy. How is that?

Do you know someone who is happy with their life and doesn't want to suicide?

I smiled a lot, still do. People comment on that and call me smiley, or smiles, or whatever.

It's a mask to hide how I really feel.

A lot of those smiling people are burning sinking wrecks inside, but they choose to show this fake mask to the world instead of being a depressed crying hopeless entity in the corner. I'm not really sure why, maybe we just grew up that way and life turning awful didn't change that. It's a habit more than anything.

I'm not sure anyone in this world could truly be that happy always unless they had something wrong with them.

 

[HGL91]

I smiled a lot, still do. People comment on that and call me smiley, or smiles, or whatever.

It's a mask to hide how I really feel.

A lot of those smiling people are burning sinking wrecks inside, but they choose to show this fake mask to the world instead of being a depressed crying hopeless entity in the corner. I'm not really sure why, maybe we just grew up that way and life turning awful didn't change that. It's a habit more than anything.

I'm not sure anyone in this world could truly be that happy always unless they had something wrong with them.

Exactly. I was raised to smile all the time no matter how I was feeling inside. Seems that a lot of religious families teach this, I've learned. I'm always anxious, but I'm more anxious if I don't smile at people because it's a habit and "feels wrong" if I don't smile. Though, in the past couple of years, it has become really challenging to hold up...

 

[seekingoblivion]

I fake it very well. Raise my voice around an octave, lift my sentences slightly at the end, smile.

And then the face drops when they pass me.

Yep I do the face drop pretty quickly too lol

 

[HGL91]

Lol don't most people do the smile and face drop? People do it for pictures all the time!

 

[inconsequential]

Lol don't most people do the smile and face drop? People do it for pictures all the time!

You'd be surprised at how many people just... keep smiling. Even slightly. Like they're just fine.

 

[HGL91]

You'd be surprised at how many people just... keep smiling. Even slightly. Like they're just fine.

Oh, I know. I've met many of those. I've been known to do that myself. I'm just saying I've witnessed "the smile and drop" many times as well.

 

[seekingoblivion]

I smiled a lot, still do. People comment on that and call me smiley, or smiles, or whatever.

It's a mask to hide how I really feel.

A lot of those smiling people are burning sinking wrecks inside, but they choose to show this fake mask to the world instead of being a depressed crying hopeless entity in the corner. I'm not really sure why, maybe we just grew up that way and life turning awful didn't change that. It's a habit more than anything.

I'm not sure anyone in this world could truly be that happy always unless they had something wrong with them.

Funny, I can't tell you how many times I've read that smiling will make you feel happy when you're unhappy. Many of us are forced to smile as we go through this crap life yet we still feel like crap. Sometimes I even feel worse when I smile cause it's so incongruent with how I'm feeling inside.

 

[HGL91]

Funny, I can't tell you how many times I've read that smiling will make you feel happy when you're unhappy. Many of us are forced to smile as we go through this crap life yet we still feel like crap. Sometimes I even feel worse when I smile cause it's so incongruent with how I'm feeling inside.

Yes, I've read that too and it doesn't work. I'll be having an anxiety attack all while smiling. It's part of what makes life so miserable to me. I know most people are just faking happiness and it makes social interaction seem so pointless to me.

 

[Bulletwbttrflywings]

I fake it very well. Raise my voice around an octave, lift my sentences slightly at the end, smile.

And then the face drops when they pass me.

Ditto

 

[crimea_river]

Personally, I've never really 'trusted' people that seem to perpetually smile. In fact, I knew somebody that always appeared way too happy, who subsequently ended their existence.

When I say 'trusted', I mean that you simply can't ever take anybody at face value. I've never been a smiler myself, unless I am genuinely amused, or faking one, which I'm crap at anyway. Over the course of my life people have tended to remark that I look angry/sad etc, when I wasn't feeling that bad at all.

I grew to love things that way, as it tended to warn off (usually) unwanted attention

 

[Saga]

like they said fake it till you make it...
i fake my smile all the time...i forgot how to smile a real smile...i smile a lot but my eyes are empty

 

[Vegrau]

Depend on what kind of genuine youre talking about. Some take on roles. So in that moment they're playing as someone else. Theyre genuinely playing the role seriously but whether that's who that person truly are. That's another story. No I never met anyone who is genuinely happy. They have to keep convincing themselves they are.