And?

Tell me, what made you laugh today?


Here are five reasons to insert laughter into your own life on a daily basis. (Aimed at parents I guess, but it applies to us all in my opinion!)

1. Laughter connects you to the positive side of life and to your own creativity. Think about it: Your reality is not actually what is, but how you perceive and hold what is. When you’re negative, you’re more likely to stay stuck in the same old, same old. But when you allow positivity to wash over you, you’ll tend to find alternative, better options for dealing with challenges and achieving success. It boils down to this: when you laugh, you get more out of life.

2. Laughter makes you more fun to be with. I’ll bet your spouse prefers you with a smile rather than a frown. Friends enjoy you more when you’re upbeat. And kids love a happy parent. They’re willing to put up with seriousness for a while, but they sparkle and come to life when you’re fun. This doesn’t mean that you should be fake or inauthentic. But it does mean you should be on the lookout for anything — even the smallest thing — that will put a smile on your lips and a delight in your heart.

3. Laughter allows you to enjoy your kids more. If you carry your burdens with you all day and hold them front and center, you don’t even notice the adorable behaviors of your kids because you’re too self-absorbed. When they say something cute and funny, it passes right over you and you miss the opportunity to connect with them in their world. They grow up so fast, and your time with them at each age and phase of their live is short. When you find the humor in their antics — whether they’re toddlers throwing their veggies on the floor or teenagers trying to manipulate you into loaning them the car — it helps melt away your frustration and see your kids for the unique and precious people they are.  A young mom told me that every night as she and her husband are getting ready for bed, they ask each other what was the favorite thing their toddler did that day. That question immediately thrusts them into the joy they receive from their child and provides a fantastic way to share a chuckle.

4. Laughter puts life into perspective. We tend to take ourselves, our work and our families all too seriously. Focusing on our problems doesn’t help in solving them. It only gets us off kilter. Laughter restores our equilibrium. It doesn’t eliminate the challenges, the responsibilities or the hard work required to create success at home or at work. But it’s a breather that lightens the load. It’s like a reset button to take us back to a more balanced place so we can start again with a renewed energy and a fresh spirit.

5. And, of course, laughter relieves stress. You can actually feel the layers of tension peel off when you laugh. We’ve known for years that laughter is truly the best medicine in the world. It boosts the immune system, re-energizes the body, diminishes pain and revitalizes the spirit. And, best of all, this medicine doesn’t taste bad, has no negative side-effects and costs nothing.

There’s power in laughter — healing power, restorative power, rejuvenating power. And it’s fun. Now we only need to remind ourselves to laugh more.

Oh and in case you can't think of something funny right now, watch this, it'll give you a chuckle or two!

Bed time

Just a little something to take you to dreamland...

Sweet Dreams ;-)

What would you do?

In my past stuff has happened that I felt guilty about: guilty for not having prevented it, guilty for not having stopped it. Even blaming myself for letting it happen... This blame was always there at one level or another, roaming around the corridors of my conscience: sometimes stored away for a while, then suddenly popping out of nowhere, jumping in my face. The older I got, the harder I was on myself: I should have known better!

This really undermined how I saw myself and how I felt about myself. Until one day my psychologist gave me a new perspective on things...

She told me to imagine myself as a little girl, the same age I was when this stuff happened, walking up to me and telling me my own story, as if it was now happening to her... What would my reaction then be? Would I tell her all the things I was telling myself? Would I blame her? Would I dislike her for it?

Yeah, well, no, of course I wouldn't! I'd tell her it wasn't her fault, that she wasn't to blame... that it was very brave of her to tell me... and at that same time I also could see why I never told anyone, until now...

Eye opener in the highest degree

Life lesson learned



Don't be harder on yourself than you would someone else... Judge things happening or that happened in the past with the correct frame of reference... So yes, I did write the first paragraph in the past tense: I don't blame myself anymore, and I have gotten a little easier on myself. It still needs work, but hey, a small step each day gets you pretty far in the end ;-)

Just thought I would share :-)

Have a happy day!

More Shakespeare

Just a small addition to my Shakespeare pondering (no, I am not a Shakespeare freak or even a fan, haven't read or seen enough by him, but his works do intrigue me) The famous soliloquy from Hamlet, of which most people just know the beginning, and sometimes the phrases 'this mortal coil' and 'be all my sins remembered':

"To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune;
Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: To die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to? 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep
To sleep, perchance to dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life:
For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's Contumely,
The pangs of disprized love, the Lawes delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would there fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered Countrey from whose Bourne
No traveller returns, puzels the will
And makes us rather beare those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o're with the pale cast of Thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard their currents turne away,
And lose the name of Action.—Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sinnes remembered"


And then there is the St.Crispin's speech from Henry V:
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."


Righty, enough Shakespeare or quoting - there is plenty of time to fill with that in the coming weeks and months ;-)


And a little happy moment to end the day with: Canadian Tenors in Hoogeveen: Song for the Mira

Me blogging?

Well, it certainly looks that way... Let's see how long I can keep it up :-)

I decided to start this for myself, to try and figure myself out...but also for random thoughts, trivia, quotes, things I like to know and remember - honesty and curiosity, should make for an interesting journey :-)


I actually had a good day today - admitting some weaknesses to myself and my boss, in stead of shying away from them - yay me! Though stuff though :-)

I tend to avoid work I don't like, let it build up and then try to avoid it some more. I know I have to sit down and get things done, but I realized today that I need a structured work space for that and that was certainly missing at the moment: my desk has been filled with printers, other people's paper work and other stuff that diminished my working space to about a third of its normal size.

This morning I first got a text from a boss saying he was worried because there was mail form last week still laying around. Then my controller called to express his concerns. My first reaction was anger: why are they pushing me, and why are they putting their noses in my affairs? Then I realized I got mad because they were right and I knew they were right! Sigh!

So the first thing I did at work today was clear away all that was not mine, leaving me my own roomy desk. Next thing I did was ask my new boss if he had time to sit down with me - which he did.
I apologized (a hard thing for me) for being so sloppy, and then explained what I thought was part of the problem. He stepped up to solve some of the problems and all in all was very understanding... Why do I scare away from stuff like this - it never is as hard as I think it will be!?!

Anyway, I have started working on the pile that was waiting for me and I went home feeling pretty good about myself :-)

Now as for something else: Wednesday at practice I was quoting my version of A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse (mijn jas, mijn jas, een koninkrijk voor mijn jas) and was wondering which play from Shakespeare this came from.... I guessed Richard II, but actually it's Richard III (yes he did write Richard II !)

Good to know ;-)