How many times a day do you find yourself having a good laugh? One, five, ten, thirty times a day? Chances are you don't have a clue. But now that I've posed the question just think about it for a moment and take a guess.

I've always felt like I'm someone who laughs a lot until I read an article about laughter. It made me think twice and absolutely raised my awareness around my laugh-o-meter!

The article stated that a study had been done with 1000 adults and it found that 40% didn't laugh at all during the week and the other 40% laughed up to 89 times a day. (I'm still wondering what happened to the other 20%!) Now I don't know about you, but 89 times a day seems like a lot of laughter to me until I learned from that same article that 5-year old children laugh up to 400 times a day! Can you imagine laughing 400 times a day!

One thing I am sure of after reading the article, is the fact that I don't laugh 89 times a day! So the idea that children are laughing 400 times a day really stopped me in my tracks and got me thinking why I don't give myself the opportunity to laugh more.

We tend to be so serious as we grow up. Yes, there's often a lot going on in our life with responsibilities and problems to solve but does that mean the laughter has to stop? I don't think so. In fact, when I look back on the times my life got too serious, and I made a conscious effort to lighten up and find something funny about a tumultuous situation, it was in that moment of having a good laugh that I was able to see things from a different perspective and find solutions more easily.

When you make a choice to lighten up in any way you can, you are breaking through that Gremlin-like thinking that keeps you stuck and unable to laugh at some of the circumstances life throws at you from time to time. And sometimes, you may even find yourself not laughing at

something funny that is happening in the moment because your Gremlin was working overtime making it even more difficult to be present enough to appreciate the moment.

Laughter is good for you in so many ways. It enables you to be more creative and productive. It boosts your immune system, tones and relaxes your muscles and lessens your anxiety and depression.

And there's more to be gained than just the physical benefits. Laughter creates a change in you on a Spiritual level as well. Laughter brings you more joy. More joy automatically opens up your Spirit. Opening up your Spirit raises your vibrational energy, which in turn enables you to attract more of what you want in your life as opposed to what you don't want.

The world is so serious nowadays and as long as you keep looking at all the reasons why something is not a laughing matter, the more you will continue to attract to you more reasons not to laugh. Why not make a conscious decision this week to laugh as often as possible and see what and who you attract to you that makes you feel better.

As for myself, I'm going to find some 5-year olds to hang out with. That should raise my laugh-o-meter!

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