One of the biggest compliments I have ever been paid as a GP was by one of my former partners who said that they could always hear so much laughing coming from my consulting room. I loved this and I've always remembered it.
Of course laughter isn't always appropriate, but those occasions are relatively few and far between. As a GP I strongly feel that my job is to make people feel better and that's about so much more than writing them a prescription. I love it when patients tell me they feel better just for having seen me, that really makes my day. Victor Borge once said that "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people" and that is so true. Kids are great of course and are usually so easy to make laugh. Their laughter is so free, so spontaneous, so uncensored. They're not self-conscious, they don't worry about what other people will think about them - if it's funny, they just laugh.
So many adults have lost this ability. Too many times adults get bogged down with worry and don't make time to laugh. It's been scientifically proven that laughing actually makes you feel better. Just like smiling, it's not so much that you do it when you feel good it's that doing it makes you feel good. Knowing this makes it even easier to laugh and to smile because not only are you doing yourself a favour, you're cheering up everyone around you too.
Think back to yesterday, how many times did you laugh? Resolve to increase that number today. Look for the humour in everyday situations, see the fun that's all around you. Seek it out by watching or listening to things that you find funny. Do whatever it takes to get your soul dancing today!
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