My experience of waking up laughing began to happen out of nowhere. I didn’t think about it beforehand or try to make it happen. I had never heard of it before.
It emerged spontaneously from a natural state of mind, a state of health that I cultivated on purpose over the years.
I’ll share with you how the laughter began to happen to me, the things that make me laugh, and the steps you can take to start your days laughing.
I have come a long way. As a teenager I attended one of the best private schools in Honolulu, but I was a wild child. I surfed waves three times my height, jumped off cliffs into the sea, and rode a motorcycle.
I did such daredevil things that I am lucky to be alive.
I got married at 19 and didn’t see much of my husband who spent most nights partying with his friends and other women.
During those crazy days in Lahaina in the 1970s, I was focused on working at the oceanfront boutique and the health food store I owned, so I was not engaging much in those life-defying activities. I was also dedicated to raising our beautiful baby daughter.
I say “much” because I did spend a few years drinking too much, but luckily for my health, I was able to quit totally. Sadly, my husband died at a young age from overdoing drugs and alcohol.
Over time, mostly from trial and error, I have learned to be more healthy, and the blessing of happiness has followed. I have practiced mindfulness for 45 years and have noticed more and more how food and lifestyle choices affect me.
I have not had any drugs or alcohol for at least 20 years except for a glass of fine wine once a year or so.
I’m sharing my story because I think you, too, may need to change at least one habit if you want to wake up laughing.
You’ve probably been telling yourself for years now that you need to quit a certain bad habit. We all have them. Besides fried foods, drugs and alcohol, a poor habit can include more subtle behaviors such as negative self-talk that drains your energy, courage, and self-esteem.
If you don’t transform your issues, they will continue to operate in your unconscious in ways that are, well, unconscious. Some signs of this state of mind are: getting triggered and blowing it, engaging in substance abuse or addiction, and acting out in crazy ways when you don’t mean to.
You may feel compelled to continue these behaviors, but they lead to being less successful and less happy. They can ruin your reputation, too. You may not be aware of it, but your employees may talk behind your back about what a jerk you are, and dream of the day they will be free of you.
If you want to tackle a habit and make a life change, I’m here to help. You can contact me at nina@ninacherry.com
The things I wake up laughing about are not the world’s greatest jokes or comedies. I laugh about the silliest things: small humorous events I recall or even things that I make up that set me to laughing. I do have a rich mind.
The point is that I feel good enough to laugh.
Here are some of the things I have thought of that make me laugh out loud in the early mornings. I know you’ll be rolling your eyes. LOL.
Ok. Here’s one:
I remembered talking to a friend and railing about misogynists. He said, ”I don’t know what that means but it can’t be good!”
This same friend gives me a lot of laughing material. He texted me yesterday: ”You’re talking to a guy who can be looking for his phone for five minutes and realize suddenly it’s in my hand. My mind and my body spend a lot of time looking for each other.”
And this:
I read in a doctor’s blog how the members of a tribe in Guam have seriously poisoned themselves over time by eating their most cherished culinary delight: bats boiled in milk – eyeballs, wings and all. I’m thinking to myself incredulously, “What did you expect!?!”
Ok, that’s gross, and actually very sad.
The story that caused me to laugh out loud when it happened and then again when I recalled it upon waking, was an incident with my three-year-old granddaughter. We were washing my car – she had the hose and I had the sponge – when suddenly this little girl turned around and sprayed me from head to foot with cold water! She loved every minute of watching me in shock, and I loved remembering her glee.
