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April 2011 Happiness Hotline

Happy happy April,


What a month it's been already.  My apologies for the Happiness Hotline going out a few days later than usual. I've just returned from a speaking / study tour in the USA, where I had the pleasure of speaking with a tourism group in New York City, attending the annual conference of the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humour (AATH) in Orlando, Florida and also beginning my 'Humour Academy' studies through the University of Portland / Humor Quest / AATH / Educational Explorations.  It was a busy few weeks! Over the 17 days I was away I had the pleasure of speaking with a number of groups about the importance of humour and laughter for both individuals and organisations, and, at the AATH conference, updating my laughter and humour skills, learning the latest findings in the humour and laughter fields from some of the leading researchers and working with some amazing teachers and presenters.  The thing I love most about working in the fields of laughter and humour, and the thing that continually draws me back to the AATH conference is the generosity of the people I meet. Generosity, and its effect on happiness was the topic of one of our dinner discussions and I thought I would share a few of the ideas we discussed as our happiness tip for this month. Our first question was to define generosity.  Yes, there were researchers in our group. After quite some discussion we decided that the definition is broad and that more than the actual gift of giving, generosity is a feeling within ourselves, a feeling of contentment, of feeling good about and within ourselves.  A feeling that is known to lead to greater levels of happiness.   We decided that we can be:

generosity of spirit; showing gratitude to those around us.generosity of time; taking time to help others and ourselves.generoisty of asset; the giving of gifts, be they tangible or in kind. Our dinner group decided that generosity is different to each and every one of us and can be different things at different times.  It could be as simple as a shared smile as you walk down a busy street or a thank you to someone who has served you in a shop or at a venue. It might be the way you open your wallet to a charity or the time you take to help another.  It's also taking time to be generous to yourself, giving yourself time for you.  As they say in the safety talk on planes, you need to look after yourself before you attempt to assist those around you.   We often hear that gratitude is the greatest thing we can do to improve our own happiness.  Our group, as you can see from the list above, decided that gratitude is just one of the key elements of generosity.    Perhaps, for the remainder of this month you might like to really notice the generosity you share in your life.  We are all generous, although sometimes we are simply too busy to notice.  We might help someone pick up things they've dropped, let someone with just a few things jump ahead of us in the supermarket line or help someone reach something that is to high for them (thank you to all those who have helped me reach those high shelves in the past - yes, I'm not overly tall to say the least!)  We might smile at someone we pass, or clear the way for someone with a pram or trolley.  This month try to be conscious of the generosity your share, the big and small things you do for others and for yourself.  Be aware of the way your actions make you feel.  You could be pleasantly surprised, and that pleasant feeling will be adding to your monthly happiness quota. As a result of my travels and learning over the past few weeks I'm (once again) looking at the programs I offer through Let's Laugh, and will be working with the wonderful Ben to update our website.  You might like to check us out at www.letslaugh.com.au Also don't forget that Sunday May 1st is World Laughter Day.  You can find out about World Laughter Day events at http://www.worldlaughterday.org.  If you'll be in Melbourne on May 1st you might like to join laughers from around the state as we celebrate World Laughter Day with 2 hours of fun, at Federation Square.  The Melbourne celebration begins at 11am on the Federation Square main stage. 

On April 30th I've been invited to share my learnings on the latest in Laughter and Humour with the Mitcham Women's Group - men are more than welcome to join for this session.  The group meets at the Mitcham Community House, 19 Brunswick Road, Mitcham with the session starting at 12 noon and finishing at 2pm.  The cost is $5 (to cover the cost of the venue), afternoon tea is provided. and bookings aren't necessary.  You could even make a day of it.  Some of us will be starting our day with the Mitcham Laughter Group who meet at the same venue starting at 9.15am.  You might also like to check out our article on Laughter in this months' Diabetic Living magazine (page 56) Don't forget you comments and suggestions for future happiness tips are always welcome.  My email address is bronwyn@letslaugh.com.au   Have a brilliant rest of April.
Bronwyn Roberts
Chief Happiness Officer
Let's Laugh
bronwyn@letslaugh.com.au
www.letslaugh.com.au0421 335 197

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