They say that a person should laugh 100 times a day for good mental health. Or is it 100 hugs per day? I can’t remember now, and I don’t want to stop typing and google it, because I don’t know about you but for me, researching is laden with distractions! I start by looking for one piece of information… half an hour later, I then remember that I hadn’t started searching for it yet!
[And see what just happened there? Distracted myself again! Not sure I’m liking what that says about my ability to concentrate…]
But getting back to mental health, I know it’s important to laugh. They have those laughter clinics even, don’t they – made famous through that Robin Williams movie Patch Adams, the doctor who treated his patients with laughter therapy and well as medical knowledge 🙂
I’ve also heard that children laugh 100 times more than adults. It’s understandable I guess, given the responsibilities most adults have. But it’s sad that we’ve gotten away from the heartfelt joy so many of us had as children.
I know I enjoy my day more when I’m laughing. So really, I need to find the little moments each day which make my life joyful. And celebrate them!
Case in point: my car windows.
You see, my car has been dirty for months. Well maybe not quite that long, but it certainly feels that way.
Hubby generally washes it for me, but we’ve both been too pre-occupied recently, I guess.
So while driving over the past week or so, I’ve been thinking, ‘I really should wash my car – at least the front and back windscreens, maybe even the side windows, to make it easier – not to mention safer! – to drive.’
Likewise with the current ‘holiday’ routine, I also haven’t made it to my favourite spot, (where I write every morning,) for probably four weeks or so.
So I made it there this morning. Down the end of my street, where I sit in my car looking out at the view, and reflect on the wonder that is God’s creation, and the incomprehensibility which is God‘s love for me.
But this morning on my arrival, I burst out laughing: the view was still there, but I couldn’t see it for the filth!
It’s small things that amuse small minds, they say. But I’m okay with your labelling me as having a ‘small mind’. I want to be joyful, to laugh at myself and with others, and to enjoy my life.
After all, it’s not just about existing, about the number of things we can accumulate. It’s about enjoying the journey, enjoying the time with each other, and with whatever it is we choose to do with our time each day.
Personally, I believe that God designed me for a purpose. At this moment in time, he has me working as the Head of Middle School. It’s a huge responsibility, creating a culture for the ‘middle years’; potentially shaping the lives of those who attend, both students and staff too.
But I love it, and I try to do the best I can for them, and for God, who placed me there in the first place.
It makes me laugh, to think that I was there 10 years ago, in that exact position in that exact school, and I’m back there again, continuing the work! God smiles at that too, I think.
So, today’s resolution? To enjoy life. To enjoy God and my relationship with Him. To laugh more 🙂
[And perhaps, to edit next week’s blogpost more thoroughly, so it doesn’t get published as a mish-mash of ideas, like this one seems to be. Ha!]
How about you today, dear reader? Will you be laughing along with me today?
And even if you can’t, I wish you a wonderful day today!
KRidwyn