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Laughter is the Best Medicine |
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by Dayle Haddon
The fastest way to take off 10 years is to
smile. Nothing communicates true
beauty faster than laughter and smiling.
When people ask me, “What are your top
beauty tips?” I say, “Stand up straight and
smile!” If you’re considering a facelift, it’s got
to be worth trying those first.
When you laugh, you have a direct
connection with the heart—yours and other
people’s. I learned the true power of a smile
when, for five days, I had the job of hostessing
and welcoming people from all over the world
for an event. In the beginning it felt unnatural
having a smile plastered on my face all the
time. But when I saw the relief people felt
upon being welcomed with a big, warm smile,
I too was won over. Arriving from Israel,
Japan, Australia and all over the world, the
guests came through the door of the huge
hotel feeling disorientated after their long trip.
I soon learned the welcome of a smile connected
us and made them gravitate towards
me. It warmed my heart as I saw them light up
and the energy we felt was tangible. That’s
what a smile can do.
For instant fun and
laughter, try:
- Charades
- Pictionary
- Twister (the older you are, the funnier this gets – believe me)
- Kite-flying
- Old scrapbooks
- Outdoor games and sports
- Karaoke
- Children’s bubbles
- Stuffed toys
- Funny movies
- Pets
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In New York City in particular, people
smile far too rarely. After my experience
hostessing, I started noticing as I walked along
Fifth Avenue that so many really attractive
women in their forties, fifties and over were
carrying the weight of the world on their faces,
causing frown lines between the eyes, wrinkles
on the forehead, down-turned lips. After a certain
age you have the face you have earned;
how you feel about your life is written there
for all to see. But whenever you smile, it defies
gravity: everything goes upwards in a flash. I
have friends who obsess about the imperfection
of certain body parts—eyes, nose, whatever
—but all of that blends together when
you smile. Suddenly, in a smile, you see the
essence of a person and that’s what makes us
consider someone beautiful or not.
I constantly try to remind myself of something
I once read: that the more serious I am,
the further I am away from my true self. That
has always struck a chord with me. We cannot
control everything that goes on in our lives but
laughter is connected with flexibility, with an
ability to roll with the changes. As I’ve been
trying to build my business, my life has
become more and more over-loaded and
stressed. But sometimes you have to laugh
because the alternative is really awful. A friend
of mine recently had a big fight with her
boyfriend. In a flash it was over, finished and
she made her big, dramatic exit, storming out.
When she arrived at the elevator, she realized
she’d forgotten her handbag and had to go
right back again. When her boyfriend opened
the door, she had to sheepishly explain her
dilemma and the absurdity of the situation hit
them and they both broke into laughter. It
took all the tension out of the situation and of
course . . . then it wasn’t over at all.
We have to plug into this universal humor
when life is out of control. Recently my
daughter said something to me that made me
burst out laughing. I had been complaining to
her about leaving the soap “glued” to an
impossibly-difficult-place-to-retrieve. She
lifted one eyebrow and ironically replied,
“Mom, pick your battles.” You can’t win
everything and that’s where the laughter
comes in. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves
of the joys in life. It can be as simple as
enhancing our desk with a photograph of a
child or our parents smiling back at us. Just
one look at that photo, in the middle of some
heavy-duty stress, can be all it takes to
remember the joy.
As children, laughter was never far away.
That’s why it’s so important to stay in touch
with the child within each of us. We still are
that child—a sweet and tender person—and it
is that child who gives us our sense of fun. And
what is the point of life without fun?
Think of indulgences as the things that are
too frivolous to fit into your “important” day.
The point of indulgences is that they contrast
with your daily life and so enhance its
quality. The indulgence doesn’t have to be an
expensive luxury; it may be something very
small and very accessible. Whatever makes
you feel special is the key. I like to say to my
daughter, “Follow the joy.” So choose an
indulgence or indulgences that ring a bell
with you.
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