Everyone knows that worrying doesn’t accomplish a thing and yet most of us do it from time to time. Some people do it so well that if it was an Olympic event they could easily be a gold medal contender.

So why do you do it and how can you stop?

The reason you worry is that you fear that something is going to happen that you don’t want to happen. You think that by somehow worrying about it you are doing something to prevent it. What you are actually doing is focusing on what you don’t want rather than what you do want to happen. Typically, people worry when they have no control over the outcome of something. If you have control and are actually able to take action to prevent this real or imagined event from occurring, then do so.

For instance, if you’re a student and you’re worried that you won’t pass an upcoming exam then what should you do? Stop worrying and spend more time studying and preparing. Once you’ve done everything in your power to ensure the desired outcome there is nothing more that needs to be done. Even if you didn’t prepare as well as you should have, worry and fear will not help the situation. Being relaxed and confident about the outcome will make it easier to focus your mind’s energy on doing your best and achieving the desired results on the day of the exam.

If you find that you are worrying about someone else because of his or her actions, then share your concerns with them. If there is something you can do to help, that’s fine if you have the time, energy, and desire to do so as long as they want help. If the person is engaging in harmful actions and has no desire to stop, then there may be a life lesson they need to learn. You cannot learn it for them; it’s something they must experience for themselves.

When you worry, all you’re really doing is harming yourself by directing energy towards the problem instead of the solution. If you’re worrying about someone’s health the best thing you can do is to take action by preventing them from worrying. Try doing this with humor. In the book The Secret, there were stories of two people who used laughter to heal themselves. After being diagnosed with breast cancer Cathy Goodman immediately began to believe that she had been healed and everyday went around saying, "Thank you for my healing". Rather than feel sad, she made a conscious decision to surround herself with laughter. She allowed herself to think only positive thoughts as she was determined to assist her body in it’s own healing. She watched funny movies every night and directed her focus on being healthy. Three months later she was cancer free. A man named Norman Cousins inspired her. Norman had been diagnosed with an incurable disease and so for three months all he did was watch funny movies. As he laughed, he released negativity and he released the disease. Three months later, he was disease free. His doctors thought his recovery was a miracle.

Three words you should immediately remove from your vocabulary are fear, worry, and can’t. Worry is fear-based thinking. As Franklin D. Roosevelt so astutely remarked, "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." The man knew what he was talking about. So quit worrying. You can do it and laughter really is the best medicine.

In my last blog post I talked about laughter and it’s many benefits.  I shared a story about Wendy, my 15 year old house guest and how we amused ourselves sharing YouTube videos.  Some of the videos were so funny they had me in tears.  I thought I’d share one of them.  I’ll admit there is a degree of stupidity here but I thought the execution was brilliant.  So if you haven’t had your daily dose of laughter, check this out.

OK, now I’m a little disappointed.   I just went over to YouTube to grab the video and it’s no longer available.  Bummer.  So I am forced to post an alternate.  You’ve probably already seen this one becuase it’s really popular.  It’s only funny because the host of the show cannot stop laughing.  The video is in some other language like Icelandic or Swedish or something.  Obviously, the couple he’s interviewing have experienced some kind of tragedy which is most unfortunate and definitely NOT funny. However, the moment the guest begins to speak with his unusual high pitched voice, the host completely loses it.  He loses it to the point that he simply cannot pull himself together.  Most of us have experienced this at one time or another.  You know, laughing at an inappropriate time because something just cracks you up.  Check it out.

the funniest video in the world

This week I’ve had the pleasure of having a 15 year old as my house guest.  Wendy is the daughter of one of my dear friends and wanted to come for a visit. Her mom has been telling me for years that her daughter is like a little clone of me as we share many of the same personality traits. She’s incredibly bright, quick-witted, mature, self-reliant, and basically, a delightful young lady.  We really do have very similar personalities with the exception that I wasn’t nearly that mature at her age! In fact, I’ve been telling her all week that she’s 15 going on 40. Of course, I haven’t seen her interact with people her own age so that may be an entirely different story. At any rate, she’s a real joy to have around.

I’ve tried to make the week fun for her and as such, we’ve been staying pretty busy. We went to the beach and found starfish, we went to the Everglades and saw alligators, we played basketball, we went swimming, and we’ve talked up a storm. Wendy shares our love of reading; so of course, we squeezed in a trip to the local bookstore every day. She is currently home schooled and excels at just about every subject; every subject except for Algebra.

I wanted to help her but it’s been so long since I’ve done Algebra I wasn’t sure that I would be able to. So I went through some of her lessons, we watched a few tutorials, and then we worked through a couple of problem areas. After this exhausting session of mental gymnastics we were ready for some much needed fun and we were off to YouTube. I mean where else does one turn when looking for mindless entertainment?

We proceeded to share our favorite funny videos. Admittedly, they are very stupid, but also quite funny. At one point, I became so overwhelmed with laughter I just couldn’t stop. I was laughing so hard I began to cry and tears were rolling down my face. When Wendy saw this she turned her focus to me as she thought my reaction was even funnier than the videos.

Prior to her arrival I had been working really hard on a couple various projects so I guess I just needed to release some built up tension and it came out in the form of laughter.

Laughter has so many benefits it should probably have a recommended daily allowance. Here are some:

1. Laughter helps to release tension and relieve stress.

2. Laughter provides a mini aerobic workout.

3. Laughter releases endorphins and puts us in a better mood.4. Laughter is contagious. Just hearing someone laugh will often make us laugh.

5. Laughter helps increase blood flow according to a study by the University of Maryland.

6. Laughter helps us better relate to one another.

7. It is believed that laughter increases the efficiency of our immune system.

8. Laughter helps us develop our sense of humor.

9. Laughter is free.

10. Laughter is just plain fun.

As e.e. cummings once said, "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  I love this quote and it’s obvious that e.e. cummings didn’t take himself too seriously. He didn’t even bother to use capital letters in his name!

It occurs to me that life is just too short to not make time for lots of laughter. Have you had your daily dose?