4 Ways to Bring Laughter into Everyday Life
The phrase "laughter is the best medicine" certainly has some truth to it. Going through medical difficulty, it is inevitable to have ups and downs, good days and bad days. So how do you find joy in the midst of a bad day? How do you find encouragement when you’re down?
I truly believe that laughter is a powerful tool in keeping a healthy perspective through difficulty and in finding strength to endure when you feel down. I am one who tends to take life pretty seriously, but I've learned that the ability to laugh makes me more cheerful and able to persevere.
So how do you bring laughter in when your are dealing with medical adversity? We've put together a few ideas that might just make you chuckle. :)
1. Find Some Good Jokes
Having a repertoire of a few standby jokes can be great to pull out for a laugh. Even if your child (or spouse) rolls his or her eyes, it's still probably helping them step back from the situation. Here are a few good, clean sources for jokes or puns:
One of my personal favorites is:
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Banana...
Banana who?
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Banana...
Banana who?
(Continue to repeat to your heart's content.)
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Orange... O
range who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?!
(One caveat here... Our girls are pretty young, and they don't quite get the pun. As a result, they make lots of varieties of this that turn out non-sensical. Use at your own risk.)
2. Play a Game (And Make it Silly)
There are lots of game variants out there (have you seen the board game remix kit?). If you aren't a competitive person or you're starting to find less entertainment from your games, try to put a silly twist on them.
As an example, try taking scrabble or bananagrams tiles and making as many silly words as you can in a time limit (my girls think that schnickel-fritz is such a silly word). You could also make a goofy twist on the classic hang-man and have silly categories or draw funny creatures instead of the hang man. The point is, a little extra levity may be just enough to lighten the day for your family.
3. Read MadLibs or Tell Goofy Stories
The human imagination is such an amazing thing. What funny story can you think up that can spark a little laughter? If you need a starter, MadLibs are a great tool for getting the juices flowing. Our girls can also come up with some amazingly silly stories if they have a listening ear nearby and are seeded with a few good questions.
4. Download a Funny App
It's amazing to see how much laughter can be generated with phones and tablets. I absolutely love the tool that technology can be in spreading humor. While there are a ton of great apps out there, we've recently discovered Dubsmash. Need a good laugh? Give it a try.
Here are a few videos from some recent family fun:
The bottom line is that adversity or difficult circumstances don't have to dictate our attitude or the amount of joy in our life. We like to say that a diagnosis isn't everything because we believe that hope and joy are available for everyone — including you!
I hope that you and your family are blessed with laughter this season.
I also wrote a post a few months ago about making your child laugh when you are at the doctor's office. Whether your child is scared of the doctor or bored having to wait, you might enjoy it.