
“God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh” – H.L. Mencken
There’s a great blog by James Altucher entitled “What happened to all the laughter?”. He notes that kids laugh an average of 300 times a day but adults only 5 times a day. What a loss!! Kids are still in touch with their joyful divinity, but we grown-ups have lost our way.
Laughter seems really hard as an adult and yet laughter is so critical to our physical health and emotional well being. Here are some of his insights into how this gap develops added with my suggestions of how to close that gap:
PLAY: When we were kids we had free unstructured and unorganized play before school, recesses, and after school until it was dark. There were weekends without schedules and summer vacations were heaven. It was never up to adults or electronics to entertain us and our imaginations were limitless. To bring back the laughter, plan some free time and play in your daily routine. If you have a meeting, tell the other person to meet you at the park. Go for a walk. Have sandwiches by a lake or fountain. Then do these same things with your friends and your kids. And keep it unstructured and unorganized!
GIVE UP THE FEAR TO LOOK STUPID: Adults fixate on being judged on their appearance and what they think and what they say on a moment to moment basis. At the end of the day, they replay each and every gory detail imagining horrific results. Kids feel peer pressure but they rebound quickly – they forgive and move on. They jump for joy when they’re happy. When have you ever seen that kind of wholesome excitement and exuberance in an adult? Let it be you to bring it back! Who says there must be a “top dog” with the biggest house, the fastest car, the largest bank account? If you’re happy who cares?? Advertisers – that’s who! The shortest path to laughter and contentment is to not buy into their game.
CUT DOWN YOUR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND WATCHING THE NEWS: Alcohol is a depressant and the more you drink, the more depressed you will become – especially if you drink at night to forget about work and then have to be with other depressed people the next day. For broadcasters good news is no news so to keep the ratings high they bring in beautiful people reading stories of hate and how the world will end in every horrible way. Politics these days is nasty name-calling, rumors and half-truths – hold YOUR TRUTHS to be self evident. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have and make your part of the world and your experience of life filled with joy.
HAVE YOUR GO-TO LAUGHTER SPOTS: Endless entertainment and laughter await you on YouTube and reruns (old and new) and practical jokes to plot and play on each other. No bad day can last with Big Bang Theory or America’s Funniest Home Videos or Seinfeld or Jack Hanna’s critters on Letterman or The Red Green Show… and make sure you’re Keeping Up Appearances! Amass your favorites and share them with others and have them add their favorites to yours. Raise your daily laughs back up toward 300 and watch every part of your life get better.
Need to lighten up and let go of stress, tension, depression, fear and regrets? Dr. Dar Treese offers individual assistance to get and stay on track, overcome adversity or find your passion. She has been in private practice in hypnosis, coaching, counseling and consulting for over 30 years. Dr. Dar has been internationally acknowledged for her positive action and solution-based techniques with individuals, groups and corporations.
“A person for the people,” Dr. Dar is always available to help you get a grip on life, health and happiness to take that next step forward in creating the life you truly desire. She now offers telephone and email sessions to accommodate your busy schedule and allow you to do the sessions in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Office visits are also available two weekends per month. These sessions fill very quickly so schedule your time slot today.
Life is too short to be unhappy and the answers and clarity you seek may be only a phone call or mouse click away.
Call Dr. Dar today at 407-278-1598 or email her at [email protected] or visit her website – www.AskDrTreese.com.