When my husband and I turned our home into an insane asylum (we cared for over 300 troubled teenagers, 6 at a time, each needing short-term foster care), this was our Thursday night tradition:
Actually, there were two traditions. The first tradition applied every night – everyone had to come to the dinner table . You didn’t have to eat, but you had to stay quietly in your seat until everyone else had finished eating.
The second tradition: Thursday night was laugh night. Every one had to contribute something to laugh about. Two rules: No ethnic jokes but Martian jokes aloud. No dirty words. You could pass and some nights only David and I told jokes.
The incentive to get the kids participating? David had the well-worn and very long shaggy dog joke about a 800 pound gorilla; he would tell if all the foster kids didn’t come with something. It was a groaner and if you’d heard it once you might prefer deafness to hearing it again.
EMOTIONAL FITNESS THOUGHTS TIP
Tip one: Laughter boosts not just your emotional fitness, but your physical fitness as well. Norman Cousins claims to have cured a mystery illness by adding lots of laughter to his life. Research supports his claims. So add laughter to your life.
Tip two: Laugh whether you feel like it or not. Down in the dumps? Try a Laughing Yoga Exercise. Here’s one: ten minutes leading to a happier you.
STAY STRONG
In addition to laughing more, remember what matters; be with Beauty and practice kindness finding common ground makes solutions possible and solutions matter more than blaming and complaining.
Katherine
P.S.
This post inspired by a Word Press Daily Prompt: Time After Time: Traditions: we’ve all got ’em. Describe one of yours. I did so above.
other Links of interest
- Laughing therapy (cancercenter.com)
- EFTI Store (emotionalfitnesstraining.com)
- Word Press Daily Prompt (wordpress.com)
- Self-soothing to Create Calm in Your Life (amazon.com)
- 12 Easy Emotional Fitness Exercises (amazon.com)
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Reblogged this on Parents Are People Too and commented:
This plays off yesterday’s parenting post. Stay strong all.
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