Laugh Out Loud!

A news report that I heard this morning stated that Doctors at Washington University have release scientifically documented cases where laughter is very good medicine indeed.  I’ve known this for years!

While the serious-minded folks around me are working on permanent creases in their foreheads and raising their blood pressure, I approach life in a little less orthodox manner.  One of my Facebook friends recently commented about posting LOL. “Do people really laugh out loud?”

I do.  Often in fact.  I laugh at odd times, at unconventional things, and sometimes at very awkward situations.  I laugh when I’m nervous, and when I’m not.  I laugh at funny movies. Unfortunately there aren’t that many that are actually funny.  My life is like a Carol Burnett rerun, and sometimes like the Three Stooges.

These doctors have scientific proof that laughter reduces cholesterol levels, blood pressure and decreases your blood sugar levels.  Really? I have low blood pressure, low cholesterol and no diabetes despite being overweight.  I’ve told people for years to lighten up, but do they listen? Of course not.  Here pull my finger!

Sometimes the idiocy that is our lives can become overwhelming.  You can laugh or you can cry.  I prefer laughing.  Looking for the funny side is a choice.  It’s not easy at times, but when things become just so insanely overwhelming what am I going to do about it?  Debbie Downer is no fun and I don’t want to be her.  IN fact I try not to be around her.

I don’t want to get into a lot of psycho-babble about our temperaments and predetermined biological DNA as to why people are the way they are.  Although I think the shock of actually experiencing a good belly laugh might send some to the emergency room, or at least to the doctor’s office for medications, laughter is a good thing that grownups have forgotten how to do.

What makes you laugh?  For me it’s a variety of different things.  I laugh at my own mistakes, and my own ignorance.  I laugh at funny videos. I laugh at good jokes and even some corny stupid jokes.  I laugh at Mony Python and even the Stooges.  Slapstick is funny stuff!

My point is, don’t take yourself or life too seriously. None of us get out of here alive so why not kick back and enjoy the ride at least sometimes?  Surely there is something that you can find humor in.  If not, maybe see the doctor for some meds that make things seem funny.  I hear that stuff the dentist uses can be pretty good.  Mine uses needles, and I avoid him as much as possible.

When you can laugh so loud you snort, you’ve almost gotten there.  When you almost pee your pants  you are well on your way on the laugh track.  When you spray the person across the table with your soda, you make others laugh.  It’s a good thing I don’t embarrass easily.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:  LAUGH OUT LOUD!

Wonder Underdog

We Are Who We Are

Y’all are just too wonderful!  I’ve got to give a shout out to my soul sista – Satin Sheet Diva, my partner in crime – Cathy Brockman; my supporters Raymond Frazee, Penelope Price,  Madison Johns, Ben Hannigan,  and Linda J. Alexander.  You guys rock!

Thank you all for the wonderful support when I was feeling so frustrated yesterday.

Quick recap:

• coffee this morning – ah!!!
• headache is gone but that’s a bad sign when fasting for blood work makes my blood sugar plummet to the point of causing a headache
• poked holes in my arm are fading, and the one is only slightly bruised.
• I’ve decided (with the husband’s voice of reason) that perhaps this year it would do well for me to avoid the family gathering. As he put it:  “You know how they are going to be.  It’s just a matter of how quickly they get there.  Then the rest of the time is spent with them sitting around discussing their ailments.  I don’t really think it’s a very good atmosphere for you, the kids or me.  We have somewhere else to be that day, even if it is just at home.”   REASON #7894 why I love this man.

My own convictions for improved health demands that I continue along the safe but slower path that I am on.  I have made progress in that by the way – I went from a tight size 24 probably should have been in a size 26 to buying size 16.  Still a long way to go, but I’m getting there slowly but surely.  Still, not quite ready to share any bikini pictures.  There are some things the world just doesn’t need to see.

I discovered this morning that my swim instructor had a roux en Y bypass five years ago.  She asked what was going on, and I shared about my sister calling me  and telling me she was going to have the sleeve bypass on Monday.  She pipes up and says ” Oh, I had a gastric bypass three years ago. Best decision I ever made.”  I said nothing else about it.  I will tell you that the instructor is around 230.  NOT good advertisement for the procedure to me.  Just saying!

I have decided that my friends are right.  I’m doing the right thing.  It’s about so much more than just losing the weight.  Last week I had my doctor’s visit and I am happy to report my cholesterol is fine.  My blood pressure  – 120/64 is fine.  No diabetes, or arthritis.  the knee is healing nicely.  so other than carrying too much weight, and having this obsession with writing – I’m healthy.

If I had the money to do the procedure as an elective surgery I still wouldn’t do it.  I might hire Jillian to whip my butt into shape, or Dolvett Quince.  I promise not to give a bunch of lip while he’s training me!  then I’d spend the rest of my surplus money on new clothes!  A girl’s got to look good regardless of the size she wears.  I could rock it in a size 24, I can certainly rock it on the way down to wherever I land. *hand raise with a snap*

It’s about the attitude honey.  Sassy sista gonna strut her stuff and feel GOOD about it too! Uh huh!  Gonna work this body, demanding more from it.  Push myself a little harder and a little longer, each time to improve my cardio. Mmm, hmm that’s right. *head snap*  My inner diva is about to show up on the scene, slim and sexified!

Between Zumba fit, the cycling, the swimming, and occasionally other cardio machines and the hiking – I can just feel the fat melt away now!

To borrow Penelope’s word – my “fierce” inner diva steps up to handle the situation and sets my whimpering whining self-pity  woose down for a firm talking to.  Let me tell you, nobody can pop a hip like a sista bent out of shape.

Just so you know, I approach everything with the same intensity – full throttle!  It’s the only speed I know until I run out of gas.  Yesterday I was out of gas.  My tanks are full, and I’ve added some nitro (insert evil laugh here).

I feel ten times better about myself than I did when I weighed my highest weight.  I’m gaining confidence, and when my friend’s make such kind statements – me fierce – gotta love that! – then I feel compelled to live up to that.

No more whining!  Maybe some wine but not whine!  Write On my friends, Write ON!

Overcoming Emotions

This is an excerpt from the presentation I’m doing for Saturday’s seminar.  The entire presentation is called Soul Matters: Your Mind, Will, and Emotions.

The root source of the term emotions comes from the Latin ex mocrere; which means to move away.  Isn’t that what we do when we allow ourselves to be overcome by our emotions?  We move away from rational thought, move away from our balanced being?

Nobody will ever reach a point in life of not experiencing a wide variety of emotions.  Our job is not to get rid of those emotions but to learn to manage them.  Instead of throwing ourselves down and having a temper tantrum like a two-year old, we have to learn to reign in our feelings and communicate in a more mature manner.  How many examples of bad behavior do we really need to see on tv anyway?

Do you think that anyone on Jersey Shore would last a minute in a board room meeting? I don’t, they’d be laughed at and escorted out of the building.

Here’s a few observations pertaining to emotions:

• Typically women show emotions more than men.
• phlegmatic show the least emotions of the four temperament groups. (Reference: Tim La Haye; Why We Do the Things We Do.
• Sanguines show the most emotions of the four temperaments.
• Melancholics have the most problems with depression – they are deep thinkers.

It’s not an easy thing to overcome your emotions, but it’s possible.   Emotionalism is being dominated by your emotions.  Think about the drama queens you know.  Everything is to the extremes and they are led by the rollercoaster of their emotions.

One of the keys to overcoming your emotions is honesty.  Be honest with yourself.  Get gut level real and examine why you feel the strong emotional reactions.  this is the beginning to understanding and eventually being able to control your emotions instead of allowing them to control you.

There are two things that can handicap us in the development of our emotions.  Abuse and responsibility put on us at too young of an age.

Abuse  can be in different forms: verbal, physical, sexual, and mental.  All of these forms hinder our developing psyche, but sexual abuse is the most damaging, causing shame within our sense of self.

Abuse to a deep thinker sets them up for a lifetime of performance orientation. they never enjoy life.  They feel they have to be perfect to earn the right to enjoy anything.  To a strong-willed person it can cause a reaction of rebellion and distrust.  Rebellion as a statement that they will never allow another person to control them in any way, and distrust of ever allowing another person to get close enough to be able to hurt them.

OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder often stems from abuse.  It’s not the only cause but it can certainly manifest from abuse.  It’s a control issue, an area that the person feels they can control where control was taken from them in the abusive situation.

Abuse robs a person of their childhood.  The same thing happens when a child is saddled with a burden of responsibility that they are too young to handle. Not being allowed to play robs a person of their childhood.

All of these things cause a person to constantly be on edge, they don’t know how to relax.  They don’t enjoy life, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Perhaps they waited with baited breath to see of daddy was in a good mood when he came home each day.

They make a mental to-do list for a single day that would require a team of four people to accomplish in a week, then beat themselves up for not being able to accomplish everything.  Then in self punishment, they haven’t earned the right to relax and have any fun.  Is it any wonder high blood pressure is such an issue in our society?

We have to learn to relax and let our inner child come out and play.  Relearn a better way to process the garbage in our lives so that the emotions don’t reign over us.

What are some characteristics of a child?

• They have fun no matter what they do.  You can put a child in the corner and they will make a game of it by counting the flowers on the wallpaper.
• If you tell a child to sweep – they’ll be dancing with the broomstick while they work, maybe .  They may just forget they were suppose to sweep.
• Children have imagination!  Grownups forget how to use their imaginations and get stuck in ruts, going through the daily grind.
• Children laugh.  Have you laughed today?
• By nature, children are uncomplicated, simple.  We add dimensional complications to our lives by our own psychological malfunctions.  We need to get back to our simpler selves!

Let your inner child come out to play once in a while and it just may help to get a handle on the emotions.  It’s ok to feel.  Sometimes it hurts, but sometimes it’s great.  Trying times are learning times and through learning to relax and allow yourself to be human,  we learn to manage our emotions.

Adults are just kids with wrinkles.  Smiling causes fewer wrinkles than frowning.

We have to develop a tougher skin as we mature, learn to manage the mean kids in our lives.  We don’t have to become autonomous zombies.  Although if we referenced ourselves as zombies it might cause our teens to be more interested in what we say.  OK, maybe not!

Maturity doesn’t mean we have to become grumpy old people.  It means we become  responsible adults. Responsibility doesn’t have to be boring and sedate.  I’m fighting the aging thing every step of the way. One of the ways to do this is by releasing the inner child!  Life suddenly becomes a game, one that I can win.  Because I set the rules to my game, and I control the moves of the game.  I’ve already won, it’s just a matter of crossing that finish line and getting the blue ribbon prize!