Finding Reasons to Smile

Alexis Eberhardt wonders if anybody can notice.

Her general nature is to smile, and especially in the past year, the Colorado State sophomore has found it makes her feel better. And she hopes it is improving somebody else's day in the process.

She just can't tell.

But she's exactly on the right path.

"There's a technique that we sometimes call a half smile. It's not a genuine belly-laugh smile, but we know that neuro-chemically the body is induced into this feel-good state," Dr. Justin Ross, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Workplace Wellbeing Program at UCHealth. "From that experience, we start to feel better physiologically, which in turn then shapes how we think, how we interact, how we do these other things.

"At the center of all of this, we have a lot of influence over how we want to feel, and it starts by how we think and how we act."

Starting this week, Colorado State's athletic program and UCHealth are partnering to promote gratitude throughout the community with the goal of showing and finding those pieces of pandemic life which are bringing people joy and how they can pass the feeling on to others.

A Digital Gratitude Wall will be created, encouraging fans, faculty and student-athletes to provide posts about what they are grateful for in these times, with the athletic department delivering positive messages across social-media channels.

For CSU softball coach Jen Fisher, she is finding gratitude is not in short supply for her or her team at the moment. Impressive, considering her squad has seen a full circle of what the pandemic can do to a program, as the end of their 2020 slate was eliminated, and the Rams' 2021 season has been greatly affected already.

"I think we're feeling really fortunate. Whenever I walk into a spit test or any kind of COVID test, I appreciate those health-care workers so much, making it possible for us to get tested, which makes it possible for us to try to play and travel," Fisher said. "I'm always thinking, boy, they must have the most boring job – asking everybody, 'have you been exposed?' -- but they're doing the work and they're helping all of us try to return to some sense of normalcy."

The season recently came to an end for Eberhardt and the women's basketball team, but she plans to do her best to promote a positive attitude to her teammates and any one she happens to see, be it in a class, on campus or a virtual meeting.

Like many, she found the six-month mark to be a sure test of her will. The initial jolt of health and safety measures had taken hold, but there seemed to be no end in sight. Her response was to find what she was grateful for, what she had in her life she appreciated and pass it along to others.

"I feel like this past year has been a good year for me to just reflect on opportunities that are coming my way," she said. "A huge thing for me is I want to treat others with kindness, and this past year, everyone needs a little kindness. It goes a long way, too. You never know when you're going to make someone's day, make them smile or just go up and ask them how they've been. It's just been huge for me.

"I talk to my teammates more, try to pump them up, ask them how they're doing. I'm trying to be kind to everyone. People go through hard times, and they just need some kindness in their life."

Ross said she is in the right state of mind with what the world is going through. He said looking at absence and loss, as well as the unpredictability and uncertainty in our lives is going to create these conditions, and finding a balance can lead to a healthy wellbeing. He said everybody has to honor the truth the losses everybody is experiencing are real, which can create anxiety.

He said a pathway is finding the way we shape or cognitive approach, focusing on optimism, connection and gratitude. Through those feelings, it can help people emotionally.

It can even aid an athlete's performance.

"It certainly can. There is a link between how we feel and how we perform," Ross said. "Mental toughness is one of these ideas we hear a lot of in the world of athletics right now. At the center of mental toughness, it really has to be optimism; optimism things are going to work out. Maybe on the next play, or maybe in the next tournament or the next sequence of events, we have to hold optimism that things are going to be OK, that they're going to work out in our favor. Otherwise, we wouldn't do anything.

"Optimism can be generated through the way that we think. We can be active participants in creating that, and gratitude kind of starts that process."

Fisher has seen her team push past what has been lost and look more to what is in front of them. Be it weather or COVID-19 issues, her team has had every tournament so far altered in some way. Their reaction to each additional setback makes her proud.

Even in a time when her practices are more segmented and players aren't always around each other, she believes her team has grown tighter by facing it all with a "we" approach.

"I definitely think it's helping our outlook, just with one another," she said. "There's a tremendous amount of appreciation for each other and the sacrifices each person is making to try to stay within our bubble. I think overall, this is really helping us appreciate our sport and helping us appreciate being able to just practice together. All of our road trips have had some sort of crazy thing happen, and the team has been so patient with each other. They've not had any grumpiness toward one another, and they're all helping with everything. I've never had a year like that, where they're a complete joy to travel with and you don't have to ask."

The state of Colorado recently recognized the anniversary of the first positive case earlier in March, and the athletic program has past the one-year mark of when, piece by piece, student-athletes had their seasons and training shut down.

And it's not over. There has been fatigue, and there will continue to be in the coming month. There is also optimism, with games being played and the reality a vaccine is being distributed.

That gives people hope. It does for Eberhardt, and it makes her want to smile, even if she's not sure anybody can see it behind her mask.

"I definitely have time to reflect and think about different things," Eberhardt said. "It has helped me mentally that I'm trying my best to help others. I care for everyone that I come across, so it's huge for me."

Ross would tell her and everybody else to keep smiling. It helps the person doing it, as well as those around them. Through the mask, he said we can all see it perfectly.

"Totally. And I guarantee it, if we line up 10 people and you had to identify those who maintain a neutral face, those who are smiling and those who are frowning, you can tell by their eyes," he said. "Your eyes smile when your mouth smiles, so I do think there's something to maintaining that."

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