National Let’s Laugh Day is marked every year on 19th March, reminding us to add a little laughter and humor in our daily life. With everything going around the world, let’s take a moment to share a good laugh and have a good conversation. We all have heard the quote “Laughter is the best medicine”, as it is contagious and cause a chain reaction; therefore on this day we ask you to let your guards down and let the laughter bubble out.
There is no question of the power of laughter. According to clinical findings, laughter can offer an advanced sensation of happiness and reduces the risk of hopelessness. It also improves heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and reduces stress. Therefore, many societies in India have started laughter clubs to promote happiness in the lives of senior citizens. These laughter clubs utilize laughter yoga, which was started from a garden in Andheri in 1995. It is practiced in the morning and acts as a morning alarm for the day. Since the brain cannot differentiate between real laughter and fake laughter, the yoga allows experts to fake laugh their way to happiness. If you’d like to assist your elderly parents but don’t have enough time, why not start a laughter club in your community?
Use humor to make your grandparents day better or you can just laugh with them or share a joke. Take to social media to post a picture with your grandparents and elders at home. Happiness is a progressive emotional state of joy and gratification. Our inherent tendencies, our environment and life are all factors that impact our contentment levels. We too, can select to positively impact our lives and work towards living a more fulfilled life.
Let us spread joy and happiness for our elders who live alone or in assisted living and often feel lonely. We shouldn’t need a special day to spend time with them or make them feel loved and cherished, and need to remind them often that they are a valuable addition to our lives.
Sometimes even the smallest acts of service and kindness can bring a huge change in someone’s life. Kindness has an important impact on physical health so don’t forget to lend a helping hand or smile at your loved ones for their health and wellbeing. If you have an older relative or grandparents at your house, this week is a great time to start. Small activities and actions can truly make a change in the lives of our loved ones and in particular our senior citizens. Let’s choose happiness by actively seeking it.
A simple phone call can do wonders for your grandparent’s mood and health and all it takes from you is five minutes. Five minutes from your busy schedule to call up your grandparents and tell them how much you love them and how valuable they are in your life. Your regular communication and interaction will improve their happiness and provide them with a virtual interpersonal relationship that will break them out of isolation.
You can teach them social media, Skype, video calling etc. that’ll help them stay in touch with old friends or their grandchildren living far away. To get your first training lessons on teaching an elder smartphones, you can download the smartphone booklet from here. They have succeeded in absence of search engines and social media. They still can. Probably we can’t. Don’t think or function from the idea that they are not digitally empowered. Reflect on the days when we as children questioned them the same problems over and over again and they affectionately responded us until we were pleased. It is our time to give some love back.
Let’s show them love. Not just today but whenever we can. Make it our daily habit.