The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
—e.e. cummingsWhat soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.
—Yiddish Proverb
I’ve used this picture and these quotes before, but I can always stand to be reminded. I’ve even been putting “Laugh out loud at least 5 times a day” on my Possibility List. I mean, how hard is it to say “ha, ha, ha, ha, ha” or “hee, hee, hee, hee, hee”? In fact, “hee, hee, hee, hee, hee” works best for me, because it forces my mouth into a smile, and I do notice the change in my body and spirits.
But, you might say, that’s not really laughing. We only really laugh when something strikes us as funny. Not so. It works the other way, too. If you laugh a lot you start seeing more humor in life, just like smiling can often change our mood.
In Cut Stress By Anticipating Laughter? Kelley Colihan says, “OK, take a deep breath. Now put your hand on your belly. Imagine your stomach jiggling, as if you are starting to laugh. You may have just taken a step toward reducing stress hormone levels.” One study has shown that merely anticipating a laugh can lower our level of stress.
My husband and I tend to laugh a lot, but it never hurts to keep ourselves tuned up. And that really paid off the other night. I was getting ready for bed when my husband came rushing in, saying, “Jean, there’s water all over the kitchen floor! I turned the faucet off and drained the sink, but we have to mop it up before it drips on our downstairs neighbor!” He was right, of course. I did mutter a short, “Good Lord, Jean!” to myself, because I was the culprit, but then I thought of my Garmin and said, “Recalculating. Recalculating.” I got out some sponges and buckets and we started to mop up. That didn’t quite work…it was like trying to bail out a boat using a tablespoon, so I got out two plastic dustpans and we used the sponges to sweep the water into the pans, which we emptied into the buckets. That was a lot faster.
Once we had a system that would clearly work, we started joking and having a good time. I’ll obviously try not to let the water run over again, but realistically there’s no way to promise. So we bought a water alarm that will go off if I do forget. Our motto is “Do the best you can with what you’ve got.” And if that’s not good enough, get some help. It’s a lot more fun to lighten up and enjoy life than to worry about our imperfections. As I said in last week’s post: we don’t have to be perfect to be awesome.
What about you? How do you lighten up when little things go wrong? Please share your experience in the comments section.
Thanks to bikehikebabe, Robert and The Constant Skeptic for commenting on last week’s post.
🙂 Thanks also to Square-Peg Karen for her posts, especially the recent one entitled You Smell. It definitely made me laugh out loud.
My neighbor watered her lawn with a fertilizer & weed killer mixing with the water. Then she did her flower garden to kill the weeds. I pointed out it would kill the flowers too. Here you decide–What can I do now?– without getting stressed out. (She watered flowers heavily.)
This same neighbor wanted me to get rid of my cactus garden because her kids got stickers in their feet when they walked across it. Now that’s a Ha Ha Ha moment!
bikehikebabe,
The story about your neighbor reminds me of the time I was nurturing a lilac bush and my husband fertilized it along with the other plants. It turns out that was enough to kill the poor thing. I mourned my loss at the time, and it’s still a family joke.
Another joke is when the pine trees up on our land had seeds, and we had gazillions of seedlings around our place. They were too close to the house to survive (because of fire danger), so I tried transplanting some and giving them TLC. They showed their gratitude by promptly dying. Just shows how little we know sometimes.
🙂 It’s enough to keep us humble.
I did the same thing transplanting 1 inch pine trees at our cabin. Must have been 100 of them. I kept them moist. Every one died. You can’t correct Mother Nature.
Very nice blog!
I too beleive that laughing is a wonderful thing to do as often as possible. I actually attended a Laughter Workshop once, and it was interesting to learn how easy it is to start laughing just because someone else is laughing, and that you can actually get yourself to start laughing even when nothing funny is going on. And it really does make you feel better. Also your motto of “Do the best you can with what you’ve got” is a great one. “And if that’s not good enough, get some help”
Tracy,
I’ve never gone to one, but I think laughter workshops are great ideas. They remind me of children…one fun way of getting them to laugh is to tell them not to. It can be a fun game in a group of them.
🙂 It makes me smile just to think of it.
Jean,
What a pleasant surprise. I did not know that you have this other blog. Laughter is a great remedy for lots of problems in our lives. Back in India, when I visited last August, I found many laughter clubs thriving as a legitimate business. Needless to say, I’ve stumbled this post.
Shilpan
Shilpan,
🙂 Thanks for coming by. I appreciate your comments.
I’ve never participated in a laughter club, but I think they’re a great idea.