I hit my funny bone when I was 5 and boy it wasn't very funny! I can still remember that day like it was yesterday. The tears streaming down my face, I ran into the house and my dad had me come over to him. I thought he was going to comfort me and wipe my tears......but not my dad. He stomped my foot. He said "now your elbow doesn't hurt anymore, right?" And we both CRACKED UP!!! It was a defining moment. He did this a lot when we were upset or had hurt ourselves. It really was a blessing to laugh through life.
One day, as I was feeling fear come up, I saw it as a cartoon and I started to laugh. It gave me the idea to look at the memories of my accident and see if I could turn the memories around to laughter! I succeeded. Now when I look back, I see a horse with ballet slippers and a tootoo, dancing around with me as his partner, lifting me up and dancing with me. Then I see the acme coyote and the road runner come into the picture and all acme caos breaks loose but when all the dust settles, there I am, riding off into the sunset with the road runner. It is powerful. Like many of you, we sit in our memories and our thoughts of what if all the negative stuff. Nobody says we have to stay there.
Here is how you can use laughter:
1. Recreate your memories so that they make you laugh, good ole belly laughing. Whatever makes you laugh, make that your memories. Nobody says we have to remember things the way they happen. I give you permission to recreate your memories!
2. Create a future that fills you with joy and laughter. I set a goal to laugh 400 times a day so that I am looking for things to laugh about but it is too big to measure. Find things every day that help you laugh through life. It isn't always easy, but it is always fun.
I share a lot about how I learned to laugh in my book, "Turn Your Family Around with Laughter" that you can get here, on Amazon.
I am going to share the most powerful secret I learned over 30 years ago!
I was sitting there, one cold December morning, sipping my Latte, my fancy journal and my favorite pen, ready to write my New Years Resolution, when all of a sudden, the WAVE of feeling like a failure, washed over me. I had failed every New Years resolution I had ever set.
It didn't matter what they were, I had failed them all. Going to the gym 5 times a week, Eating Healthy. Running 5 mornings a week, not one. I was a failure. If you have ever failed a new years resolution, you are not alone.
As I sat there, reflecting back on those failures, I began to dig. What did I want from those resolutions? The more I contemplated, the start of a tiny light began to glow. They would make me healthy. Ok, But what did I get from being healthy? I would be happy, I would be Joyful!!!
That is when I hit on the secret, it wasn't about the actions, it was about the feeling. The feeling of joy!
When was the last time you felt joy, true joy? Take yourself back to the last time you truly felt joy. For me, it was when I was a kid!
Why did I feel joyful as a kid? I LAUGHED. All day. At everything. How could I turn that into a resolution? I needed to set a goal to LAUGH 400 times a day, big enough not to measure, I am an Engineer and like to measure, and also big enough to keep me striving for joy!
As riders, our mental state is so important and the more we can find our joy, the more our horses don't have to carry our mental burden when we are with them. The more they can enjoy us and not just tune us out. You know, it might be the same with our family and friends. Imagine being around someone that is filled with joy, that would feel good!
If you are looking for a little more joy in your life, Click here to get my free guide, 3 STEPS TO ENJOY LIFE MORE!
How many New Year's resolutions have you not completed or accomplished? Honestly, who came up with resolutions anyway? I remember the stress level that I felt for the first few months of the year when I was striving to get off on a good foot accomplishing my resolutions for the year.
Thirty years ago, I decided that I didn't want the stress of trying to meet this random thing I felt like I should be doing to fit in. I changed it up and decided that I wanted to "feel" better, each and every day for the year, but how? For me, I came up with the idea of 400 laughs a day. It is too big a number to track and yet, it is big enough to really strive for things to laugh at, all day long.
Here are the benefits I am finding from making this change:
1. I feel better. I am healthier. Laughter really does change your physiology and lightens your burden.
2. Stress reduction - I got rid of the stress of trying to do something that wasn't for me. I think most of that stress was "fitting in" but some of it was actually finding the time and doing whatever thing I thought I should be doing.
3. Choice - The more I laugh, the more people around me laugh, the more the world just seems to be a better place. Laughing is a choice and it is a much better choice for me than anger.
4. Anxiety reduction - this was very powerful for me. One of the things I laugh at the most was my encounter with the dentist. I am petrified of the dentist. I was sitting in the chair, getting a crown, and when they finished and handed me the mirror, I couldn't move my arm. Immediately, I started to get hot, I could feel me stress level going up. Did the dentist paralyze me? What was going on? The dentist started to get concerned and then realized, he had glued my arm to my leg. It was in that moment that I couldn't help laughing hysterically. It felt great and, in that moment, it significantly reduced my anxiety for the dentist. Laughter really does reduce or get rid of anxiety!
If you have ever wondered how to get a little more laughter into your life, I wrote a book that has some of my favorites! If you are interested, click here for more information.
