Laughter IS the best medicine

It's Monday. Again. Did you wake up whistling “I don’t like Mondays?" Again? Spill coffee down your lap? Again?

Not to worry. Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway, has the answer. The best way to laugh, she says, is to laugh. “Even if you are not in the mood to laugh," she says, "the act of laughing will make you laugh.”

Take a quick look Rev. Brockaway's “laugh inducers,” below. Believe me, the car pool can wait.

Applaud. The old adage, “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands,” apparently works. Try it.

Schedule a happy meal. McDonald’s is still a little sobering, but sharing breakfast with a silly friend is a great way to start the day.

Make a happy stack. No…not a happy “stash.” A stack of things that make you happy. Brockway says, “Buy a pack of plain index cards and some pretty magic markers and write individual sayings, jokes and quotes that make you laugh and bring sunshine to your life and to others.” Or remember your joy closet?

Take a Humor Risk. Chances are your stodgy cube mate can’t resist a zerbert. And even if the humorless soul looks at you wtih astonishment or self-righteousness, you’ll laugh. Hard.

Start the day smiling. When you feel the corners of your mouth go southward, bring ‘em back to the north. Make a promise that they’ll point north all day.

Still can’t fathom a smile? Click on this entry’s first link. Now that's funny.

For more information on wild laughter click here.

Excerpted from The Goddess Pages: A Divine Guide to Finding Love and Happiness (Llwellyn Books, 2008).