Let your smile be your umbrella

I have been LOVING Aaron Wong’s blog, Looking for my Life. A recent post is on the importance of smiling and ways to keep a smile on your face.

Smiles are important not only for interactions with others, but they are also beneficial to us as well. How many times has “comic relief” softened a situation, or has an unexpected genuine smile lifted our moods?

I don’t want to say something cliché like, “let your smile be your umbrella,” or “smile through the pain,” or something like that [even though that is the title of my post]. But it is true that a genuine smile that lights up your face will also brighten your mood.

Taking it a bit further from a smile to laughter, Saranne Rothberg,
Founder/CEO of The ComedyCures Foundation. The organization is committed to bringing healing through laughter. Saranne is a cancer survivor, who truly knows her topic, as she has experienced it. She and her daughter discovered that therapeutic comedy served as a great family coping strategy as they dealt with Saranne’s early stage IV cancer diagnosis.

“We bring joy, laughter, and therapeutic humor programs to kids and grown-ups living with illness depression, trauma and disabilities.”

Similarly, Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret, tells of Norman Cousins, who was diagnosed with an incurable disease. His response to this was not to stress, but to laugh. All he did was watch funny movies & laugh. As he laughed he released all negativity, and basically cured himself.

But you don’t have to have a terminal illness to benefit from laughter. Laughter is a proven way to eliminate reptilian thinking.

Fortunately we are provided with a wealth of material just from watching the people around us.