Giving Thanks for the Natural Medicine of Humor

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. And the natural medicine of humor has provided the Kuhn family with another pleasant time.

If you're like me, Frank Capra doesn't direct your life. You don't have "storybook" family relationships; your family doesn't look like a made-for-television movie-of-the-week.

I don't mean that my family is awful. But my family is certainly not like the ones promoted by advertisers and holiday movie makers. Those types of families only exist in the media.

Those media-created families are fun to watch. They are an ideal and ideals are great goals. But you should never measure yourself against ideals.

(In fact, you should never measure yourself against anything. Life is, after all, NOT a competition!)

Luckily for us, the natural medicine of humor provides us with the antidote for measuring ourselves against unrealistic ideals. One of my Smile Strategies is to Tell the Truth. There's a lot of emotional freedom in being honest about how annoying Grandma is or how irritating Uncle Frank can be. Telling the Truth (to yourself) is a great way to get rid of stress!

But don't stop there! Humor's natural medicine has more in store; another of my Smile Strategies is Appreciate Everything. After telling the truth about Uncle Frank, make it your mission to find something about him to appreciate. You can say, "Uncle Frank really tries hard to please us and make us laugh; I appreciate his efforts and his intentions are good."

Appreciating the people around you might do nothing to change their behavior, but it will do wonders for your attitude. And you'll be amazed at how humor's natural medicine turns your attitude around and changes your experiences dramatically!

Try these two Smile Strategies throughout this holiday season. Since our holiday traditions are all idealized (to some degree), you'll find yourself smiling more and having more fun when you use the natural medicine of humor to free yourself from holiday stress!


Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"It all Starts with a SMILE"


If you're interested in manifesting abundance this holiday season and beyond, read my son's facinating website.