Stress Reduction
Tips to make it happen
by Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant
The truth is our stress baggage is the one thing we always end up having to carry for ourselves (too bad we can’t get the big guys with the hand carts to help us!). Unfortunately, many of us keep packing our bags without taking the time to unpack them along the way, and as a result, they become a huge burden we have to drag behind us our entire lives.
But just because life is full of uncertainty, stress doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to enjoy the journey — and the unexpected detours. Your sense of humor allows you to do just that, because laughing can reduce tension and fear, relieve depression and bring more joy to your life. It also improves your immune system, reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease and tones your muscles — just what you need for lugging those heavy bags.
Here are tips 1-5 you can use your sense of humor to help you unpack your stress:
1. Take out laugh insurance.
The average American 5-year-old child laughs 400 times a day. The average American adult only laughs 15 times. Chances are, you’re not even meeting the average if you’ve been overstressed lately. There are plenty of ways to make sure you get at least 15 laughs a day, and many of those are listed below, but here’s a secret: you don’t have to feel like laughing to get the positive emotional and physical benefits. So go ahead and fake it. You’ll feel better, and you’ll get the positive benefits of doing it. It’s like exercising when you don’t feel like exercising; you still improve your health.
2. Label your boxes.
Just as it is important to know what box goes where when you’re unpacking, it’s also important to understand the things that cause you stress and the things that make you laugh. If hooking up your stereo system or programming your VCR is stressful, but you know you can get a good laugh at the dog park, the best thing to do is to throw the leash on the dog and get out of the house for a while.
Make yourself two lists with two different color pens — perhaps red for things that stress you out and purple for things that make you laugh. When you’ve done you’re your first draft (you’ll keep adding things as they arise), put the list somewhere you’ll see it every day, such as on the refrigerator or inside the medicine cabinet.
3. Friends help friends move; real friends help friends laugh.
Funny friends can save your life. They can teach you how to have a lighter heart and can entertain you with their humorous stories. If you hang around them long enough, eventually, their humor skills may rub off.
One of my funniest friends, Nick, was waiting with me in line at a fast-food restaurant. It was lunch hour, and the line was long and moving slowly, with many customers complaining to the cashier. Finally, we got to the front of the line, and the cashier looked up apologetically and said, “Sir, I’m so sorry about the wait.”
He looked at her, smiled, and said, “I’ve weighed this much for so long, it really doesn’t bother me any more.”
We all laughed, and the stress of having had to wait disappeared.
If you don’t have a friend who can help you laugh at anything, find one quickly!
4. Use your humor compass to locate the closest greeting-card stores.
There’s no better way to get a quick laugh or 20 than by reading funny cards. Greeting cards deliver the punch line immediately, and there are so many senses of humor out there that you’re bound to find one that makes you laugh. Not to mention, they’re cheap.
Some of my favorites: “I had to quit jogging because it was bad for my health … my thighs rubbed together so much my underwear caught on fire.”
“I was going through my address book and came upon your name ... who are you?”
“In parts of the world they worship women our age ... of course, then they throw them into the volcano.”
5. You are here ... make a note.
We can’t make it through life without writing notes. Put your’s on funny post-it pads so that you’ll have little visual reminders not to take life so seriously. You can buy funny post-its at most greeting-card stores and many office-supply stores.