Friday, February 29, 2008

The Laughing Club of India

The week before Jenn went back to work I went over to her house to watch some films and they were all great! What awesome messages they had! But for this post, I want to focus on one that really made me think. It was a documentary called The Laughing Club of India and it was inspiring! They have clubs over in India (and also here in America) called Laughing Clubs and what they do is meet in a park and just laugh! It takes any stress or tension they might be feeling and makes it feel like it's nothing. They laugh in many different ways and there is usually a leader who tells them how to laugh (with your tongue out, like a lion or tiger, or just a hearty laugh). And watching that, makes you laugh.

I've thought about this documentary since watching it that day, but with our schedules hadn't had a chance to research it. Until yesterday. Our schedules have been so crazy that I haven't been to church in a while and now with Sean gone won't get there for another 6 weeks (actually more since once he gets back we're off to NC for spring break). So I'm trying to keep up with it my own way and it's hard. This weekend I'm going to come up with some kind of routine for daily meditation, reading and just sticking to it.

Anyway, back to the Laughter Club. This week has been hard with Sean gone. And yesterday my parents left to go back to Jacksonville so I was feeling sad and lonely. Last night at dinner I was just in a really bad mood. At one point the kids just started laughing for no reason. It was that hearty, kids laugh too that makes you smile and laugh yourself. And that reminded me of the Laughing Club. So I joined in and started laughing which got the kids roaring with laughter. And it felt SO good! It completely turned my mood around and the rest of the night we played a new game Kieran got for his birthday and just had fun. I have to admit it felt a bit weird at first and I kept thinking to myself "if people saw us now they'd think we were nuts" but that feeling didn't last long. If I can remember to do this whenever I'm feeling sad or depressed or just blah, I know it will turn my mood around completely and make a bad day - better.

Laughter really is the best medicine!

-Kim

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