Dinner Laughs

 Someone recently asked me why I go out to eat so much.

There are several answers, certainly beginning with the amazing food I wouldn’t be able to create at home.  Then there’s simply dressing up and going out – always uplifting.  But most importantly it’s the social camaraderie I get from the dinner group I belong to.  And all the laughter that follows.  We’ve become like a family and we enjoy a tremendous amount of fun and laughter.

If you need more laughter in your life, get out and starting having some fun with others.  And know that true camaraderie can take some time to develop, but it’s worth it in the end.

Photo:  Some of my dinner companions

Laughter and Longevity

My friend Elmer jokes that 90 is the new 70.  Aside from bad knees he’s the epitome of that joke.

I ask him how it is that he’s 90 and in such good shape.  He answers me with another joke:  “I never drove fast cars, I never chased women, and I only sometimes lied.”  Cute.

I ask again, fishing for the answer that I want:  laughter.  He answers me again with another joke.  Before my final request for the answer I want, I realize he’s delivered it to me already with his three jokes.

Stay young in spirit to stay young in body.

Photo:  My friend Elmer

Quotes

Socrates said:  “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Adlai Stevenson said:  “Life without laughter is not worth examining.”

Photo:  Stock.xchnge

Where's the Love?

The Dalia Lama once said, about Americans, “They shower love on their animals much more than they do on each other”.  I thought this was an astute observation.  You see it everywhere – people cold and reserved with each other while they lovey it up with their dogs and cats.  Something’s amiss.

Yet when we laugh, love rises out of it spontaneously.  It’s why I love promoting laughter.  It’s why laughter is the #1 most romantic trait.  Hearts soften instantly.

When you get that person, who is loving their dog and ignoring you, to laugh, you immediately witness the ice melt.  They soften and start to feel the connection that naturally flows between people.

Laugh – and the love follows.

Uplifting Smiles

Uplifting smiles

If you’re over a certain age and you want to keep your face from sagging, just smile.  It pulls everything UP!  Try it in the mirror.

Photo:  Stock.xchnge

Quote

"Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live."

Photo:  Stock.xchnge

Rose

Rose was the brightest spirit!

I led a laughter program for a retirement community recently, where the brightest spirit was a woman named Rose.  Rose ended up visiting with me for a while at the end, sharing a bit of herself and her history; which I slowly realized, being both Jewish and German, included two years in a concentration camp during WWII.  Yet she was the most receptive to Laughter Yoga, had the brightest light in her eyes and laughed the easiest.  Go figure!  It’s always the way of it.

Photo:  Stock.xchnge