Stop Global Whining with Loretta LaRoche By: John Shepler Loretta LaRoche is on a campaign to save us from ourselves. Apparently what you've heard is true. Society is really decaying, everything is worse than it's ever been, the world is certainly spinning down to an ignominious end, and, what's more, you may have only a few minutes left!
Is stress getting to be just a little too important in our lives? Do we revel in our misery perhaps just a little too much? Have we twisted things around now so that unless we're really suffering we don't feel important? Worse, have we backed ourselves into such a corner that we'll never get away from all this stress...at least not alive? Or, is there some faint glimmer of hope? Loretta LaRoche will laugh in your face and tell you it's all up to you. We really do inflict a lot of our own misery. It's gotten so bad now that we need humor consultants to reconnect us with what we knew instinctively as children. Loretta points out that we experienced 400 good laughs every day at age 4. As adults that's down to 15. Her company, the Humor Potential, provides seminars to companies and other organizations to help us regain that ability to energize ourselves with laughter. You might recognize the name Loretta LaRoche, and you'll certainly recognize her on sight. She is the only woman on PBS wearing a Viking helmet. It's either the helmet or the Groucho Marx glasses that she wears in traffic. Why? It seems that other drivers are happy to let her pull in when they notice the Groucho getup. The Viking helmet would probably only work in a convertible, but on that convertible would be her bumper sticker that says: "Stop Global Whining."
You think this is funny. Good! Negative stress is literally killing us. A good laugh will reduce blood pressure, improve digestion and release endorphins and other natural pain-relieving hormones through your system. This has been reported in health magazines and is why it's always been said that "laughter is the best medicine." Loretta notes that "optimists live longer. Pessimists are accurate, but they don't live as long." So what are we going to do about it? Well, we can continue our awfulizing and catastrophizing and keep the content of our daily conversations at the 75% negative level. Or, we can lighten up a bit. If the daily grind is just, well, a grind, then we need to find some funny stuff. Barbara found this web site called the "Barking Spider" published by Phillip Winn. He asks some interesting questions such as: Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds? Does fuzzy logic tickle? Is there another word for synonym? If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages? Phillip also has a collection of useless inventions. How about a battery powered battery charger? Dehydrated water? Flashbulb tester? Leather cutlery? Reversible garbage disposal? Sugar coated insulin? Waterproof sponge? Humor does not have to be mean spirited or at the expense of insulting a particular group. Some of the best laughs are just silly stuff that we can all get a kick out of. Even better are the little things that people can do to brighten each other's day. Like the manager who stapled a candy bar to the middle of a report he wanted his secretary to type. It had a note: "to give you energy to keep going!" That's one of the stories from another humor consultant, Sister Mary Christelle Macaluso. That's right, Sister Mary. She's known as the "Fun Nun." Her philosophy is that "humor is to life what shock absorbers are to a car. It can lesson tension; it's just a wonderful healing thing." She takes her inspiration from a line in Proverbs; "A joyful heart is the health of the body, but a depressed spirit dries up the bones." (17:22) Well, what are we waiting for? Have we been "saving the good stuff for the right occasion" or waiting until things improve before we dare feel better? Perhaps right now is the best time to just up and laugh out loud. If you're near enough to hear, I'd even like to join in, if that's OK. :-O (LOL) I'll leave you with a quote from Loretta LaRoche that puts life in perspective: Yesterday is history. This week, don't just have a good laugh...have a great one!
Books of Interest: Relax - You May Only Have a Few Minutes Left by Loretta LaRoche. Imagine a cross between Erma Bombeck and Jon Kabat-Zinn. The result is Loretta LaRoche, star of the lecture circuit and PBS-TV. In this unique, hilarious, and practical book, LaRoche helps readers lighten up at work and at home, and, as she says, "find the bless in the mess". Also visit Books-A-Million
Also visit these related sites: The Humor Potential- Loretta LaRoche's company offering seminars on laughter and stress reduction. They'll sell you the Groucho Marx glasses or their bumper sticker, "Stop Global Whining". Bachmann Overturn Her Drive - It's a play on words and a fundraising project. See if you can spot the BTO song titles in the body of the text. Anyone found more than 9? The Luck Factor - Do you feel that you were just born lucky or unlucky and there is nothing you can do to change your fate? Think again. Here's an eye opener on the real factors behind what seems like blind luck and how you can change your luck to change your life. Rural Telegraphy Initiative - Dots and dashes may be making a comeback out in the country as a result of economic issues.
Articles Portfolio - Policy & Contact Info - Doing Good - Poster Store - Products & Services - Special Offers - John Shepler .com
© 1998 - 2010 by John E. Shepler. Linking to this article is welcome, but no online republication is permitted. Print media republication rights are available at reasonable rates. Contact me at: John (at) JohnShepler.com Sponsored by Long Distance Rate Finder .com - We proudly offer Meet Poken, Enterprise Poken, GigaTrunks, T1 Explainer, Ethernet Today, DS3 Today, T1 T3 Today, MPLS, Toll Free Numbers, T1 VAR Partners, Recycle Cell Phones, T1 VAR Network, Tune Cell, Affordable VPN, Affordable VoIP, Toasty Leads, Business Networking, Military Surplus, Free Classifieds, Electronics Recycling, Can I Get DSL?, Ethernet Buildings, Prepaid Cell Phones, Sheep for T1, Talk on Talk, Business Telecom Explainer, New Home Phone, MegaTrunks, Cell Phone Plans Finder, Gigapackets, Enterprise VoIP, T3 Rex, T1-Rex, Call Bird, and T1 Rex. Please Visit Us at LDRF Home and Business Phone Service. We are independent agents for Commission River, which offer an excellent Affiliate Opportunity. First Published: August 16, 1998 as part of A Positive Light Last Updated: January 25, 2010 You are visiting http://www.JohnShepler.com 
Hosted by Arbor Hosting - For fast, reliable, low cost hosting services, check out Inexpensive Web Hosting. |
Loretta
takes a different view toward stress than most of us. We wrestle
with it, hide from it, fear it, and feel we're not important
enough if it isn't weighing us down. Her approach is to "Humor
Your Stress." That's one of her videos. Others are called
"The Joy of Stress" and "How Serious is This?"
Cell
Phone Plans Finder