There are two parts to a smile, the present moment part and the future part. The present moment part is just the smile. :) It's fun to smile. People like smiling. If you smile at someone when you first meet them, you will create a positive impression. Not all the time though! Some people are grumpy and think that smiling people are fakers. Don't worry about them though. There will always be naysayers and miserable people, you don't need to stoop down and cater to their unhappiness. Just keep cultivating your own. Ok, so that's the present moment part - the smile, the act of smiling. The future moment part is the chemicals released by smiling. There was a study that tracked people who were forced to hold their mouths in the shape of a smile by biting on a pencil. They were happier than the control group. This is because our brain thinks we are happy when we smile. So if you smile, your brain does its thing - releases it chemicals and remembers old patterns, and you become happier! For a long time I did not believe this. I would smile and not feel any better. But one day, I was ticked off because my plans were unexpectedly changed. And I said, what the hell, lets try smiling. And a minute later I realized how foolish it was to be angry, especially at such a small thing! I then realized I had this realization because I smiled. And it wasn't the smile that did it, it was the act of trying to become happier which made me happier. So just try to be happier, sincerely put effort into it, and it will come. And hey, its the best you can do anyways :)