Laughter is the Best Medicine

June 18th, 2010

Things are getting busier and busier since I have started back to work after maternity leave. I have to be so careful to protect my precious time and to not over extend myself. I want to be there for my little man Nicholas, for my husband, for my patients and for my life.

Recently, a political situation arose with our regional health authority and I was asked to have an instrumental role in helping to negotiate the issue with the powers that be. It used to be my thing. I actually worked hard to hone my negotiating skills while I was fortunate to be the President of our provincial Medical Group. But I knew when this came up that I didn’t really have the time, inclination or desire to be pulled into the vortex of this ongoing issue. Yet I almost caved and found myself doing it yet again. But I stopped myself and pulled back. I followed my heart and had the fortitude to say NO.

Some of these things we do are linked to wanting to help but some are linked to self importance and the need to be needed. We have the perception that nobody can do it but us.

Do you ever think that maybe you are taking yourself too seriously? The irony is that when you take yourself too seriously often other people don’t.  Sometimes I think we need to just lighten up. I felt somewhat uncomfortable about saying NO. I think I was actually feeling pangs of guilt for not doing something I did not want to do and did not have the time to do. I also had a crazy busy day in front of me. I did my usual morning rituals to ground myself and prepare for my day but I still felt tense as I drove in to work.

Then I remembered this audio CD I had of this women by the name of Loretta LaRoche. If you have ever heard her speak she is an absolute hoot. So I popped it in. I was driving the freeway in the pouring rain (Vancouver is still waiting for spring) zipping past the beautiful green hillsides and trees that envelope the Fraser Valley. And I got to laughing. So hard that at one point I had to pull over and thought I was going to pee myself.  She has natural and brilliant comedic sense and timing. She feels being able to laugh at your self is the ultimate divinity.

As she was chatting about how her mother saves everything because “you never know.”  I couldn’t help but think of my Granny who had the plastic on the lampshades for years and would save things like string and wax paper. She also had “good dishes” that you could never use and candles that were never burnt.

I got to thinking that we really need to live now not for something later in life. Enjoy the journey. Do what is right for you. Refuse to do what is not right for you (without guilt) and burn the damn candles. And while you are at it, laugh a little or even better laugh a lot!  A good laugh can put everything into perspective. I read that the average 4 year old laughs 300 times a day and for the average 40 year old it might be 4 times. Let’s narrow that gap and stop taking ourselves so seriously.