The day I realised I had stopped laughing.
I hadn’t decided to go serious, it had just happened. With this change though I had lost the laughter, the fun, the joy in life.
So I started work on my six pack sense of humour.
I would watch comedy and not laugh. I had to force it at first, until I started to relax, let go and laugh.
The more I started looking for the funny side, the more it helped me change some of those ingrained responses. Mine is definitely dealing with teenage kids. Often I would shout and then open a bottle of wine. Or just open the wine.
All that wine though, is not the best way to cope, especially at 7:30 am. So trying to find the funny side of a teenage drama gives me other ways to stay calm and relaxed.
Sometimes, I really have to dig deep and try many perspectives .. the joyful perspective, the thankful perspective, the ‘how would I react if I was a dog perspective’ … my 13 year old didn’t appreciated it when I licked her, but it did shock her out of the current drama. (and it made me laugh, a lot).
There is a serious benefit to having a laugh. Finding the funny side gives you the power to decide how you are going to interpret a situation, respond to a situation & how you are going to feel. What an awesome way to live.