HAVE A GOOD LAUGH

I INVITE YOU TO:

FIND THE HUMOR IN LIFE

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”

 ~ William James

So a shout out to my husband here, who more than anyone I know can find the funny, the absurd, the silver lining, the glass half-full, the amusing, the joy and the jolly in even the most challenging and seemingly dark situations. He can laugh at himself and finds human behavior interesting. He has taught me that finding humor, irony, optimism and the light side  and by avoiding the tendency to think it is all sooo serious, ultimately makes me more effective and better able to deal with life's challenges.

“Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.” ~ Mark Twain

NO LAUGHING MATTER

This type of humor and optimism is not carelessness or disrespectful and those people, like my husband, who understand this, yield this power carefully. It is not cruel, at another’s expense or meant to belittle. This is a humor that understands there is a line between irony and cruelty, self-deprecation and self-flagellation and amusement and avoidance. This is a dance my husband does well. It is a humor where the human condition is acknowledged for its myriad of shades and interpretations. It is born out of the “we are all in the same boat”, not better than, but the same as. It is born from a keen curiosity about life and relationships and all facets of the human experience. It is born out of wanting to enrich the understanding of why we do what we do and react the way we do. It is born out of a true empathy and respect for each person’s challenges. This type of exploratory humor is empowering and disarming and comes from an intrinsic, intelligent, practiced and proactive approach to handling life.

“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.” ~ Bill Cosby

A LAUGH A DAY…

So beyond making me smile or feel better, there are real and measurable benefits to my husband’s view on life. Laughter and yes, laughing at ourselves, has mental, emotional and physical rewards. My husband’s temperament and learned skills maximize the brain’s ability to handle stress, allowing for better cognition and problem solving. Laughter also releases feel good hormones and floods the system with, bad mood busting endorphins. All of this allows for greater insight and awareness. When stuck in stress, the same thoughts or negativity, the learning and options become stagnant. As I life coach I employ humor as a way to relax the mind-body into a different state; easing the client into new options or perspectives. I poke fun at myself and my own shortcomings in a healthy way and this allows for an easier connection between myself and my clients.

LAUGH OUT LOUD

Finding the humor is about knowing that a lighthearted approach can be a portal to a new awareness and options and can be an exceptionally effective and pragmatic way to deal with life. My husband is the funniest, most optimistic person I know, but he is also extremely grounded, caring, intelligent and generous. Every day he finds the balance between humor and humanity and that is no joke.