Maintaining Relaxation and Smiling

"Maintain a relaxed body and mind, and meet and greet with a smile. Relaxation enhances physical and mental health, and a smiling face promotes friendship" -Master Sheng Yen, Adage 11 (108 Adages)

Years ago, there was a popular song called "Don't Worry, Be Happy", and I even remember buying the LP as a young teenager because I found the song to be quite amusing. The gist of the song is that worrying only makes one's life even more worrisome than it has to be--the logic being that actually worrying doesn't make one's challenges better or lighter. I don't think Master Sheng Yen would necessarily advise such a simplistic philosophy, especially since the kind of mundane happiness that this song promotes is not that popular in Buddhist sutras or stories. However, one can apply the principle that cultivating a light attitude toward daily challenges can go a ways toward mitigating stress.
   This means that whatever burdens one might bear about a particular problem and its sources can be looked at in a variety of different ways. Instead of being stuck thinking that a problem is too difficult or even insoluble, why not be able to smile at it sometimes, or even adopt a friendly approach? In this way, the problem is less onerous, and there is room to find alternate approaches to being with that problem. After all, one never emerges from problematic relationships in existence and in life as a whole. As soon as I even find something that works well for me, I will suffer the problem of wanting it to stay that way forever or, worse still, becoming so acclimatized to it that I soon begin to stop paying attention to it altogether. So sometimes it is important to try to smile, not as a way of making "light" of a bad situation, but as a way of making it new and different to behold. I smile not because I am dismissing problematic things, but because I am welcoming those problematic things and the kinds of learning that can emerge when I am staying close to those problems.
   Most importantly, perhaps, Master Sheng Yen alludes to the benefits of a relaxed body and mind, which I would assume is a requisite to smiling. Have you ever tried to smile while you were tense or agitated? Truly it doesn't work all that well, because one needs to almost take the perspective of "I will smile, whether it makes a difference or not..." That is a more relaxed approach that is not focused on a achieving a goal.

References
Master Sheng Yen, 108 Adages.http://www.dharmadrum.org/content/about/about2.aspx?sn=46