Friendship is sunshine for the soul.

“The great lesson from the true mystics…is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one’s daily life, in one’s neighbors, friends, and family, in one’s back yard.”

 ~ Abraham Maslow

Laughter improves the mind and spirit. If we can laugh at our troubles, we can create positive biochemical changes in our body which will help reduce feelings of depression or helplessness. When we laugh, we breathe more deeply, which fills our body with oxygen and improves our immune system. Our blood pressure decreases and endorphins and other natural pain-relieving hormones are released. We create a better state of mind and when we are in a better state of mind, we are able to think more calmly and clearly. Our entire body relaxes.

In stressful situations, our body suffers. Constant stress robs us of our sense of humor. It takes the fun out of life! When we are children, we laugh on average about 400 times in a 24 hour period. As adults, we only laugh about 17 times a day! What a tragedy!

A good laugh bursts forth from the soul.

You can bring more laughter into your life. Collect books and movies that are funny and the next time you’re feeling down, bring them out and laugh. Choose to surround yourself with happy and positive people. Be more playful in your daily activities. Give yourself some “laughter therapy” whenever you’re feeling down.

As Oscar Wilde said, “Life is too important to be taken seriously!”

In my practice as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, I encourage my clients to lighten up. We focus on the positive aspects and the solutions which brings a sense of peace. Being able to laugh at yourself is an important step on the way to enlightenment…a state of acceptance and love for your true authentic self…including that part of yourself that laughs so hard, milk comes out your nose!

A few weeks ago, I lost one of my dearest friends and most trusted advisors. His death was sudden and very unexpected. A reminder that there is a thin veil between life and death; a moment of being “here” and then being “gone”.

My friend would not want me to suffer his loss. Oh yes, he would expect me to cry and mourn his passing. But he would also expect me to know that he is well; that he is at peace; that he has gone home. My tears are not for him. They are for me.

I threw myself a pity party and allowed myself to wallow in my grief and sadness. I realized that every time I felt my loss, I also felt my joy. In order for me to feel this loss, I also had to feel the love that created it. And in feeling the love, I was healed of the sadness.

“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. ” ~Kahlil Gibran

Mark was my “empathologist”.  A reference from a silly Woody Allen movie, it became the way he was listed in my phone book. We enjoyed amusing each other with the silly as well as the profound. The thesaurus lists “empathize” as “the ability to identify with, sympathize with, understand, share the feelings of, be in tune with; be on the same wavelength as, talk the same language as; relate to, feel for, have insight into.” Wow, I was lucky to have him! And I realize that I still “have” him.  Whenever I think of him, he is with me. For every inhale of “what shall I do without him?” there is a sigh of “you will do”.  I take strength in all that I learned from him. He was very generous with his wisdom and I plan to honor him by becoming the best “empathologist” I can be.

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”  Albert Pike

Each life is a precious gift. Take the time to celebrate your life and your loved ones.

Dr. Masaru Emoto, author of Hidden Messages in Water, has done extensive research about the characteristics of water and how, among other things, water physically responds to emotions. In light of the disaster, he has proposed the following prayer for the Gulf situation.

“I send the energy of love and gratitude to the water and all the living creatures in the Gulf of Mexico and its surroundings.

To the whales, dolphins, pelicans, fish, shellfish, planktons, corals, algae and all living creatures…..I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.”

We are not powerless. We are powerful. Our united energy, speaking this prayer daily…multiple times daily….can literally create a shift in the balance of destruction. Thoughts create things.

We don’t need to understand “how”. We just need to believe in the power of love, which is greater than any power active in the Universe today.