Race Costumes and Other Reasons to Laugh...

When I get my moment of "being funny" it is typically more of an airhead moment, a blonde moment, a beginners luck kind of moment. Or a bitchy moment. I just didn't get that funny gene, nor have I worked at it. And that's ok. I'm just grateful so many of you out there are so naturally sassy and funny! Laughter is of the best medicine, we need a good dose of it everyday....

Since I have no cooooool outfit to share and am on a "race" kick these are the must see's from Saturdays 10K. They kept us entertained and caused me to loose breath when really I was trying tomaintain.... some we followed, some we passed and some we high fived at the finish line.

None of them were photo'ed by me, all of these and more can be found here.

How they ran all 6.2 miles dressed this way still escapes me!

And that is Richmond Monument Avenue 10K costume competition at it's finest!
Can you imagine running in one of these costumes? Which one's your favorite??


And this my friends is Rebecca at her finest!!!

                                                                     
Hi y'all!!
My name is Rebecca and I blog over at Caravan Sonnet. I am thrilled to be here today mostly because I simply adore Kristine! When I first met Kristine I was matched with her with the "Bigs & Littles" blogging network. I think I literally had 2 followers (my sis and one of my best friends *smiles*) and was wanting to build a community of friendships. I was a little nervous when I saw how well Kristine wrote, her amazing followers and community that she had, and just how awesome she is! In addition to this I am a swimming/pilates gal (in other words I hate running :)) and Kristine can whip out many many many running miles each week still looking beautiful. My nerves though lasted as long as five minutes when I received the sweetest email from her and immediately realized that she is as awesome as her blogging posts. :) One of the things that I love about Kristine is her attention to good health which is also important to me as I struggle with some health issues.

Recently I have been reminded again how important laughter and joy are to our health.

Right after I was diagnosed with my chronic illness I went to work reading many different books and doing tons of research (which I am sure everyone does!). One of the books that people kept recommending was Norman Cousins book called "Anatomy of an Illness" so I definitely made a point to read this book. I was inspired and amazed by his story and would definitely recommend it. Cousins was diagnosed with a debilitating disease where his body would literally fuse together. It was incredibly painful and incurable. Cousins shared that doctors only gave him a 500 to 1 chance of recovery. DESPITE those odds Cousins implemented his own "treatment" and eventually recovered. In his book he discusses the entire method of what he did but one of the things that he spoke about was the influence that laughter had on his healing process. Cousins (after he obtained his doctors' approval) chose not to stay in the hospital but he stayed in a hotel room (near the hospital) and in addition to his diet and vitamins he gave himself (as he termed it) "laugh therapy". Cousins watched and read anything that would bring him laughter. Overtime he started to see that for every ten minutes of laughter he would have a couple of pain free hours.

Now, BEFORE I receive a ton of emails stating that this is not physically possible (I will share some scientific evidence) I do want to say that I understand when you are in pain and not feeling well it is sometimes hard to find the laughter. I do understand. Seriously, I do. But as I read the following statistics and information again I was convinced again about the importance of finding joy in all of our circumstances....

Doctors say that laughter:
1 - can distract attention away from illness or pain
2 - can reduce tension
3 - can change a persons expectations by encouraging a different outlook
4 - can increase the production of endorphins which is the bodies natural pain killers Some hospitals around the United States have even incorporated "laughter programs" to help their patients heal. There was an article years ago about a Catholic hospital in Texas where nuns told funny stories to patients on a daily basis so that they would feel better and heal more quickly. Laughter is truly an important process of the recovery process. Honestly, I do understand how difficult some days can be when you are hurting and sick or sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. But did you know that it actually takes more effort and energy not to smile then it does to smile and laugh? It takes forty-three muscles to frown but only seventeen to smile. WOW!

So what are some ways that you can find laughter ~
especially on days where it feels like that is the last thing you want to be doing?

* rent funny movies (don't forget about the old ones! Last spring I rediscovered some classics!)
* read funny books - read the comics - read funny blogs (seriously, some are hilarious!)
* find the joy in simple things.
* I actually have chosen to not watch anything that would cause stress, tension, or negative thoughts to go into my life. (Am I the only one or are some of those lifetime movies just downright scary?!?)
 * Try not to take things so seriously. I am preaching to the choir on this because with being ill it can be difficult not to do this. I have learned though that if you look for the bad you will find it but if you look for the joy you can find joy.
* keep old emails, article clippings, letters, etc. that bring joy and laughter to look at often.
* laugh at yourself. I recently  shared my endometriosis story and to this day I will never forget a situation that happened during this time period. My mom and I were in a very populated mall when I received the phone call that the surgeon (from across the country) would accept me as a patient but would not be able to have an appointment available for an additional three months. This might not sound like a big deal but at the time it was and my mom and I sat down and bawled our eyes out right there in the middle of the mall. As we realized that people were staring at us we started to giggle and then couldn't stop laughing. To this day we laugh about this incident. Don't be afraid to step out and laugh!

Where do you find laughter?

Thanks so much for spending a few minutes reading today!
I would love to meet you so please stop on by and say" hi"! I hope y'all have a wonderful day! :)

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She's the sweetest of them all! 

Always cheerful, always motivating, and so caring :) 

And, she's given us yet another excuse to snort, clap and laugh our hearts out!

It's unbelievable the power laughter holds!! 

Be sure to stop by her blog! 

And tell me have you ever worn a costume for a race???

I'm NOT feeling the porpoise costume...

but maybe one of the pinky, inky, and blinky costumes ;)

Linking with Random Wednesdays, Walkabout Wednesday, GFC Bloglovin