Happy 'Someday We'll Laugh About This' Week!

Last year, I decided to write about national and international observances as well as holidays you may not know about or currently celebrate, if they relate to stress management. (You can read about it in this blog about Emotional Intelligence Month.)

This week, in addition to being New Year's Resolutions Week (surprise, surprise!), you can also celebrate the lesser-known observance known as 'Someday We'll Laugh About This' Week. (Note: If you're reading this late, it's okay to start celebrating now instead of waiting for next year's observance. The point is the shift in attitude, not the actual date.) I think the title pretty well explains the 'what' of this observance, so I'll go straight to the 'why' and 'how':

Celebrating SWLAT Week by maintaining a sense of humor about life's stressors can bring many benefits, chief among them being less stress. As discussed in my recent Comedy or Tragedy post, much of our experience is influenced by whether or not something feels like a physical or psychological threat--not on whether or not it actually is one. That means that many of us walk around with our stress responses triggered by events that may not be actual threats, things that, if viewed differently, may not be such a problem for us. Maintaining a sense of humor about these potential stressors can rob them of their ability to stress us, and can reduce the effects of chronic stress.

Another reason it's important to develop and maintain a sense of humor in life is that laughter in itself brings excellent health benefits. It can help you live longer and enjoy life more, among other things! So laughing and having fun are important for your physical and emotional health year-round, but now is a great time to focus on changing perspective and emotional 'habits' to develop a better sense of humor about stressors.

Now for the 'how'. The following resources can help you better understand the role of fun and laughter in your life, and maintain a sense of humor about stress.

Humor Resources From Elizabeth Scott:

• The Benefits of Laughter

• More Research on Laughter

• How To Have More Fun

Another great way to celebrate 'Someday We'll Laugh About This' Week is to make 'someday' today, share a funny stress story and laugh about it! Pick a good one and share it in the comments or in the Stress Management Forum.