Laugh, Laugh, and then...Laugh Again

What better mini-escape when you're feeling weary, than that of a belly laugh? When relaxed, we laugh more — and that laughter helps us to relax even further — which prompts us to laugh more. You get the picture. Stop! Drop what you're doing, and for no less than three minutes go have some fun — in any way that appeals to you.

• Tell a joke or ask someone else to tell you one.
• Read today's comics, buy someone a Dilbert card, or flip through your Calvin & Hobbes calendar until you experience a true belly laugh.
• Not working? Imagine your cat walking around the house under your son's cowboy hat — and the elderly babysitter thinking the hat is possessed. Remember the time you led the entire school assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance — the whole time with your zipper down — or something equally mortifying?
• Can you visualize yourself lip-syncing and gyrating your way through an Elvis tune — in your underwear? Come on, you have to laugh!

It's impossible to laugh and feel burdened at the same time. An active funny bone gives you strength.

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Excerpted from Recharge in Minutes ©2003 Suzanne Zoglio, PhD www.zoglio.com Buy the book

More on: Stress Management for Moms