...Ten tips on reducing stress adapted from Jim Pelley's Laughter Works Seminars, FairOaks, California. Courtesy: Baptist Health

• Remember to laugh at yourself: taking life too seriously can give you permanent frown lines.
   
• Be thankful for your own problems. Life is a challenge. If it weren't for problems, most of us would be underemployed.
   
• Reach out and "fun" someone. Share your joy with others.
   
• Keep smiling. It takes more energy to frown.
   
• Take time to laugh. Establish a time each day to share humorous insights about the kids, the job, the dog or whatever makes you laugh.
   
• Hang around kids: they still know how to laugh.
   
• Get a perspective. Don't complain about your problems: other people probably have worse ones than yours.
   
• Practice humor. Learning to bring humor to life is like developing any skill: practice makes perfect.
   
• Do something out of the ordinary: take the scenic route, enjoy a long lunch, fly a kite.
   
• Attention: This is not a rehearsal. Life is NOW, so enjoy it! Sure beats the alternative.

~

Originally published: Alabama Prime Times, April 1999

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