Live a Little, Laugh a Little
Who starts with a cliche?
I hate to begin my post with a cliché, but laughter truly is the best medicine. Honestly. Think about it in a broad sense; how many times have you been in a tense situation when everyone in the room is on pins and needles and someone says something humorous and the tension dissipates as laughter fills its place?
The Power of Laughter
Our bodies respond in the same way. When we fill our lives with humor, the tension our bodies are holding onto leaves, and we are left happier and truly, healthier. Laughter actually raises the amount of serotonin (the happy enzyme in your brain) in your body, driving your body towards joy. No kidding.
When stress is stored in your body, it causes simple discomforts like headaches and weight gain, but when trapped for too long, it can lead to depression, heart attacks, and sadly, death. On a daily level, stress interferes with your relationships, making life far more complicated and damaging than it could be.
How do we change?
Sometimes it’s a matter of gaining a new perspective. When my kids are blowing things out of proportion, I often reply in kind, “Oh my gosh!!! You’re right. This is the end of the world! This is worse than the zombie apocalypse!!” They usually start laughing (unless of course we’re talking about middle school girls, who will roll their eyes). Either way, the stress of the situation usually disappears with the revelation of reality, perspective, reasonability.
Sometimes we need take a break from the situation and distract ourselves with something humorous – a ridiculous cat video on YouTube or pictures of a recent trip or turn on a comedy.
Laughter turns situations around.
Teach your kids to laugh, especially at themselves. I mean this in a healthy way. We are all imperfect and instead of getting frustrated by inevitable mistakes, we need to learn to laugh at our slip ups and embrace our humanity. This is such a healthy way for kids, especially little perfectionists, to let go of unreasonable expectations of themselves and others. When we teach our kids to laugh at themselves, we change the (often) unreasonable expectations we have of them, and…ourselves.
I’m not sure if I just wasn’t taught to laugh at myself as a kid or I was just to determined to be perfect. I’m learning as an adult to laugh at myself. I’m learning that there truly is very, very little I need to take seriously. There are occasions for seriousness, but in the huge realm of it all, laughter is a much healthier option that
These little things we teach our kids when they’re little can carry into their adult lives. Just as we teach our kids to make healthy eating choices, teach them to make healthy lifestyle choice.
Live a little, laugh a little.
Photo: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/blogs/the-lost-boys/1879431/Don-t-walk-boogie
