Tag Archives: laughter

Laughter is the best medicine

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I love laughing. There is nothing like a full belly laugh to release stress from every cell in the body. Nothing works faster than laughter to bring your mind and body back into balance. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. I tend to laugh more during stressful times, make more jokes, and roll with the punches ~ I take things less seriously. Some people might view me as insensitive but it really helps me get through those difficult moments so I am able to help and focus on others or the task at hand.

Lately, it seems like every time I turn around something is breaking, needs to be replaced or fixed. Just for starters, as we headed into fall the furnace needed to be replaced, the chimney sweep bent our venting pipe so it needed to be replaced, both cars needed a new set of tires, the kitchen faucet and oven broke the day before Thanksgiving, the dishwasher the day after Thanksgiving and the shower head exploded onto me as I was washing my hair. The next day, the pocket door for the bathroom came off its track and the car battery died. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed and able to remedy each situation rather easily along with a little laughter to share.

During these moments, I realized I smile and laugh a bit more than usually. Unconsciously, I am just trying to make the whole situation a bit more bearable, it’s how I’m wired, and I am so grateful for it.

  • Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.
  • Laughter boosts the immune system while decreasing stress hormones, increasing immune cells, and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.
  • Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
  • Laughter protects the heart by improving the function of blood vessels and increasing blood flow, which can protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Life can be stressful but there is always something to laugh about. Try it, your body and mind with thank you.

Have a laugh on me!

 

 

A Gospel Brunch does the trick

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Wow, I cannot believe it’s mid-August already and I’ve only been home for 2 weeks this summer. I’ve spent most of it in Florida, which is very strange because no one in their right mind should be in Florida during the summer. The only sane reason to be in Florida during the summer is because your family needs you. And, that’s what happened. My Dad had a heart attack in June and has been very slow to recover. He is doing better now but it’s obvious that his 87 year old organs are very tired and not working well together, especially his heart and kidneys. For a while it seemed as if they were behaving like siblings that just couldn’t get along. Anything done to support his heart added too much stress on his kidneys and visa versa. Frankly, they are both in need of a great deal of support. Finally, they have started to get along, thank goodness.

Although, I have spent very little time vacationing this summer, I did sneak out a couple of times with my Mom to enjoy life. It is so important to laugh and enjoy moments during stressful times. Besides being concerned over my Dad’s health and needs, spending 4-7 hours a day in any hospital visiting is stressful in itself. On the cab ride from the airport to their home, I looked at an activities guide and saw an advertisement for Lips – The Ultimate in Drag Dining. It looked very interesting, amusing nonetheless. I decided to look into it and it got great reviews. They even had a Gospel Brunch. Perfect ~ we didn’t have to stay out late. I asked my Mom if she was interested and she hesitantly said yes.

Lips has rather strict reservations, no walk-ins and we needed to arrive between Noon and 12:30pm. The servers are in the show and needed to take our orders before the show starts. We arrived at 12:10pm and the cars were lined up for valet parking already. The place was packed. They gave us a nice booth (my Mom loves booths) with a great view. We settled in with our bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s and checked out the crowd, which ranged in age from 15 to 90 yrs. old. They were from all walks of life. There seemed to be many people celebrating something as crowns were given to them. After a couple of moments, my Mom looked at me and said, “This is great. I wasn’t sure at first but, this is great.” When I first mentioned it, she had no idea what to expect and was concerned that it may be rather sleazy and run down. She was pleasantly surprised.

Mom with April

Mom with April

Our server, April was gorgeous and a fabulous entertainer. My Mom couldn’t get over that she was actually a man as well as the other performers. She kept noticing how beautiful they were and what incredible breasts they had. I told my Mom she could buy them too. The show was wonderful, a mixture of Gospel and top 40s. The Mistress of Honor was very funny but not too raunchy ~ hey, it was a Gospel Brunch. The food wasn’t that bad either, which was a nice surprise. However, the best part was that we laughed and smiled for almost 3 hours during the show and for sometime afterwards. It was exactly what out bodies needed during this challenging summer. I am so happy my Mom went outside her comfort zone to experience something new. I think it is very important to try new things, even at 83. It was a blast for both of us. My Mom had such a good time; she wants to bring my Dad for his next birthday.

April performing

April performing

Me & Mom

Me & Mom