I was recently running errands and saw this bumper sticker and it made me crack up and think to myself “what… would Scooby Doo do” …… in a stressful situation? Scooby Doo was an animated television series (produced in ’69). When he was unsure, he would cock his head to one side and say “haaaaaaa?” He would stop and pause, he would ponder. And I thought – what a lovely sentiment – a lesson to be taught to us humans to
stop and pause
reframe
But our untrained minds are swirling with thoughts and chitta chatter. And thus, the stress hormone of cortisol elevates the “fight or flight” response to our sympathetic central nervous system. (Cortisol is our body’s main stress hormone controlling mood, motivation and fear.)
So with humor, how can we calm the sympathetic nervous system? How can we put more humor in our life? How can we lighten up? How can we let it roll? How do we even start to reframe?
One of my favorite reads is “The Book of Joy” by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. In Chapter 3 – “Humor: Laughter, Joking is much better“ the Archbishop writes:
~ “Come stand next to me and let’s laugh at me together, then we can laugh at you together. It does not belittle either of us but uplifts us, allows us to recognize and laugh about our shared humanity, about our shared vulnerabilities, our shared frailties. Life is hard, you know, and laughter is how we come to terms with all the ironies and cruelties and uncertainties that we face.”
~ “I believe very fervently that one of the ways of getting into the hearts of people is the capacity of making them laugh. If you are able to laugh at yourself, then everyone knows you’re not pompous. Besides, you hardly ever knock down someone who is knocking himself down. You’re not likely to clobber someone if they’ve already, as it were, self-clobbered.”
~”So learn to laugh at yourself. It’s really the easiest place to begin. It’s about humility. Laugh at yourself and don’t be so pompous and serious. If you start looking for the humor in life, you will find it. You will stop asking, Why me? and start recognizing that life happens to all of us. It makes everything easier, including your ability to accept others and accept all that life will bring.”
One of the songs in one of my playlists is “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston. Who has watched the Seinfeld episode of where Elaine is dancing at a Company party? Have you seen Elaine dance? It’s hysterical – I also love Seinfeld – good clean comedy. So every time I hear this Whitney Houston’s song, I think of Elaine dancing and kinda wanna join in…. J LOL!
How we take care of ourselves is our issue – not just the physical body but as important is the energy body, the mental body, the intellect. It is by beginning this process of awareness and acceptance that we change, grow and heal. Purify, not only the body but the mind and emotions as well so the light in the heart can be experienced. Laughter allows the heart to blossom.
I’ll leave you pondering to yourself “What can you do for yourself to stop, ponder and reframe to bring more humor into your life???”
“I have chosen to be happy because it is good for my health.” ~ Voltaire
Peace, love & dogs,
Linda Benton