20 Years 20 Lessons - Lesson 10 - Find the Funny
The bible tells us in Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” I agree wholeheartedly. Take a moment and smile. Doesn’t it just automatically change your perception - even for a moment. Yes! It does. Science has actually proven that the mere act of smiling (even when forced) can lift your mood, lower your stress levels, boost your immune system and possibly even prolong your life. Science didn’t even know it was proving the bible correct...but it did! (Here is a cool article about it.)
I have a very good friend that I confide in. She is the best - She is not judgmental, a great listener and she has a heart to really help others. She has become my sounding board over the years. She does not attend the same church as I do so therefore I can vent (my ministry frustrations) to her and she has absolutely no clue as to what I’m referring. Her advice always starts with, “Find the funny if you can”. It is the best advice ever!
God instructs us to be merry, happy, full of joy and to enjoy our lives. We can’t do that if we focus on the negative, frown all of the time, have a “woe is me” mentality and never laugh. Over the years I have learned that if there is even a small amount of humor in a situation - I should focus on that instead of the negative. Of course there will always be serious situations where laughing is not appropriate but I’m talking about those moments that come to steal your joy. Those moments when Satan is standing back laughing at you because he thinks he’s got you in a stronghold. In those moments...find the funny...even if the funny is laughing back at Satan and quoting the scripture to him...telling him how pathetic he is and that he’s already been defeated!
As I was preparing this post my husband and I did a little experiment. We read the cool article and then we both stared at each other and forced smiles. We began to laugh at each other and then we laughed at ourselves laughing. A few minutes later he received a phone call from someone that had a very strong opinion to share about a decision we are in the process of making. When my hubby hung up and I asked him what was up he smiled (like this puppy...bahahaha) and told me the conversation through a
forced hilarious smile. Even though the content irritated me, my husband’s presentation had me rolling, and the end result was that neither one of us let this person get to us and we went about our day. I firmly believe the laughter helped. In fact I know it did...because just a week prior we received similar calls that had us both gritting our teeth and feeling extremely irritated which caused us to unknowingly snap at each other resulting in a less than par day.
Laughing...smiling...finding the funny...works!!!
I challenge you to force a smile. Then feel free to laugh at yourself. Anytime something unpleasant happens today...smile! Then at the end of the day take a moment and reflect and see if you had a better day than you’ve had in a while. My mom already took the challenge. She does in home child care. You can imagine the stress. Pooped smeared from one end to the other, toddlers biting each other and stealing toys...She loves her babies but some days are a lot more stressful than others. She said every time she felt stressed she took a moment to find the funny in the situation or forced a smiled at a spaghettio covered baby (that she had just changed and bathed). She said at the end of the day she felt great!
God wouldn’t have put it in the bible if He didn’t want us to laugh and smile! Try it! It works!
Here is a blog post that is sure to leave you laughing out loud!
I have a very good friend that I confide in. She is the best - She is not judgmental, a great listener and she has a heart to really help others. She has become my sounding board over the years. She does not attend the same church as I do so therefore I can vent (my ministry frustrations) to her and she has absolutely no clue as to what I’m referring. Her advice always starts with, “Find the funny if you can”. It is the best advice ever!
God instructs us to be merry, happy, full of joy and to enjoy our lives. We can’t do that if we focus on the negative, frown all of the time, have a “woe is me” mentality and never laugh. Over the years I have learned that if there is even a small amount of humor in a situation - I should focus on that instead of the negative. Of course there will always be serious situations where laughing is not appropriate but I’m talking about those moments that come to steal your joy. Those moments when Satan is standing back laughing at you because he thinks he’s got you in a stronghold. In those moments...find the funny...even if the funny is laughing back at Satan and quoting the scripture to him...telling him how pathetic he is and that he’s already been defeated!
As I was preparing this post my husband and I did a little experiment. We read the cool article and then we both stared at each other and forced smiles. We began to laugh at each other and then we laughed at ourselves laughing. A few minutes later he received a phone call from someone that had a very strong opinion to share about a decision we are in the process of making. When my hubby hung up and I asked him what was up he smiled (like this puppy...bahahaha) and told me the conversation through a
Laughing...smiling...finding the funny...works!!!
I challenge you to force a smile. Then feel free to laugh at yourself. Anytime something unpleasant happens today...smile! Then at the end of the day take a moment and reflect and see if you had a better day than you’ve had in a while. My mom already took the challenge. She does in home child care. You can imagine the stress. Pooped smeared from one end to the other, toddlers biting each other and stealing toys...She loves her babies but some days are a lot more stressful than others. She said every time she felt stressed she took a moment to find the funny in the situation or forced a smiled at a spaghettio covered baby (that she had just changed and bathed). She said at the end of the day she felt great!
God wouldn’t have put it in the bible if He didn’t want us to laugh and smile! Try it! It works!
Here is a blog post that is sure to leave you laughing out loud!
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