Smiling is Contagious
Each week at camp, our nightly Evening Embers questions follow a different theme. While last week’s theme was “courage”, this week’s has been “attitude.” Attitude is described as “a manner of thinking, feeling, or acting, whether positive or negative.”
We have the opportunity to choose our attitude each day - at camp, this can be easy when you spend the day playing in the lake, ripping down trails on the bike, or jumping horses in the ring. However, sometimes even at camp a positive attitude can be hard to maintain. Maybe it’s late in the day on a backpacking trip, and you still haven’t made it to the camping site yet. It starts to rain, everyone is tired, and keeping a positive attitude starts to seem a little tough. This is when it’s crucial to think back to the code, focus on the positive, and consciously find the good in the things around you.
Take yesterday for example - in the afternoon we had some heavy rain showers, disrupting outdoor plans. But we didn’t let that stop us from being happy or having fun at camp! Instead, we chose to focus on the positives by enjoying how much cooler the rain made everything. I asked campers for examples of times when it’s hard to be positive, and Felix told me, “when it’s raining and I have to miss ultimate frisbee on the field.” But, he said that he was able to turn that into a positive when they played soccer in the indoor Thunder Dungeon instead!
Charlie says he usually feels pretty positive at camp, but he feels even more so at the barn! “Riding horses makes me happy,” he said. Positive Attitude is one of the four parts of the Falling Creek code, and means living with enthusiasm and being fun to be around. Smiling releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin - but did you know that just seeing someone else smile can help change your own mood?
Today we’re sharing some great photos of boys smiling around camp, because smiling is contagious! The “Facial Feedback Hypothesis” suggests that facial expressions directly affect emotions - so while someone else’s smile can have a positive domino effect on those around them, you can also “fake it till you make it” with your own facial expressions to improve your mood! We hope that seeing these smiling faces from camp will brighten your day!
