What a Life!

So far, I am happy to report, the Joy Diet is going quite well.

I’ve taken out my camera and snapped a few pictures. [Another one of my Treats.] Sometimes the light is good, sometimes it isn’t. But if I don’t get the camera out when the kids are doing something funny, I won’t have any pictures. The lighting in the picture above wasn’t stellar, but the laughter was, so I took the picture. And I sorta like it.

I am listening to the Joy Diet on my iPod while I exercise. Today while I was on my walk, I was listening to the chapter about laughter. She was talking about how children laugh way more than adults. Which, I suppose, is true. Right now I’m just trying to smile forty times a day, okay?

But since I’ve been loosening up a little, thanks to the Joy Diet, I have been smiling on the inside a lot, on the outside a little. And though I’ve even noticed occasions where laughter might be appropriate, I can’t say I’ve gotten anywhere near my forty laughs per day yet.

I mean, seriously. Yes, kids laugh a lot. The boys seem to be laughing constantly when they’re playing sometimes. This I have noticed. But the things they laugh about… The other day Joey took the mashed potatoes on his plate and was playing with them with his spoon (rather than eating them) and all of a sudden he said, “Look! A butt!” He had made them into a shape that, well, did kind of look like a butt. Both boys laughed hysterically, of course.

So yes, children laugh a lot, but do you really expect adults to make a sculpture with their mashed potatoes and laugh about it? Somehow I just don’t think that is going to happen. Though the thought is sorta funny. [And yes, I did just laugh out loud.]

I’ve always been accused of being too serious, of taking things too seriously. For now, I’m just trying to smile – on the outside – more often.

Maybe someday I’ll get in those forty laughs per day. Right now, though, I must say, smiling feels really good.