How Often Do Praise & Laughter Come Your Way?

You may have friends with whom you enjoy hearty belly laughs. Or you may have lovely people in your life who praise you often. But perhaps you don't. Or perhaps the above happens, but not as frequently as you might like. Consider being the source of it yourself. You can be the source of your own laughter and praise.

Regarding laughter, you may - at least initially - need outside inspiration, such as video clips (plenty of funny ones - even for people like myself whose 'funny bone' is a bit strange - on YouTube), or films you may already have in your library that caused you to laugh long and hard when you saw them the first time, or simply do a search on YouTube for brief two to four-minute video clips teaching laugh therapy. (In case you are not aware of it, laugh therapy can reduce stress, as well as improve the quality of your life. Laughing has physical effects because it is able to stimulate the circulatory and immune systems of your body).

However, I find that laughing at myself (in loving ways) is sometimes the funniest of all. Perhaps it happens when I am with others, or it might happen when I am totally alone and realize what I'm doing (don't ask), or when I relate something about myself to others that was not so funny when it occurred, and yet, in hindsight, is hilarious - and the joke is on me! If you have a habit of doing this, you will know that it brightens up your day ... so start now.

Praising yourself is another one of those things so many of us tend not to do. Starting with our cultural bias that taught us since we were very young that praising the self is boastful, egotistical, sinful, etc., many people feel absolutely uncomfortable doing it, and believe that this discomfort underlines the truth of the fact that praising the self is not good. That then becomes a vicious circle, and they simply never get in the habit of doing it. But the truth is (one simple place to look this up is in research put out by proponents of positive psychology) that praising yourself is good for you.

Did you have to fight a bit with yourself this morning to get to they gym, or jogging trail? But you did it anyway? How about not giving in to the temptation to have that luscious looking croissant and eating something healthier instead? What about when you caught yourself in the habit of criticizing others and stopped mid-track in order to not continue? Aren't those all praise-worthy? Is there anything wrong with praising yourself for doing that? If so please comment below, or email me!

Laughing about yourself, praising yourself, and loving yourself are all ways to care for yourself. Would you not laugh with a small child to see it happy? Would you not praise it for its tiniest progress? And would you not show it you love it at all times? So treat yourself the same way.

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Also visit my book website: www.gabriellakortsch.com where you may download excerpts or read quotations from any of my books. My new book Emotional Unavailability & Neediness: Two Sides of the Same Coin is out globally in print, and the Kindle version will be available by October 8th.

Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch

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