162 11111 00 W00 W00 W00 W00 Ways tays tays tays tays to Motivo Motivo Motivo Motivo Motivate Yate Yate Yate Yate Yourourourourourselfselfselfselfself
76. Lighten things up
Sunlight and laughter. That’s what cures most fears
and worries. Terrifying problems are better solved in
the light than in the dark. And there are many ways to
bring them into the light.
Pick a frightening problem. Then do the following:
Talk about it with someone, draw an illustrated map of
it on a huge piece of paper, make “Top 10” lists about
the problem, tell yourself some jokes about the prob-
lem, sing about the problem and, finally, dance a dance
that expresses the problem.
If you do all these things, I promise you that your
problem will seem a lot funnier, and less frightening,
than it once did. It is impossible to laugh deeply and be
frightened at the same time.
G.K Chesterton used to say that “taking things
lightly” was the most spiritually advanced thing you
could do to improve your effectiveness in life.
“After all,” said Chesterton; “it’s because God’s an-
gels take themselves so lightly that they are able to fly.
And if His angels take themselves that lightly, imagine
how much more lightly He takes Himself.”
My friend Fred Knipe is a three-time Emmy award-
winning television writer who also performs as a come-
dian in the character of “Dr. M.F. Ludiker”—world ex-
pert on everything. Fred is one of the funniest human
beings I have ever known. He never fails to lighten me
up, no matter how big the problem I have.
Dr. Ludiker mounts the stage and puts his ludicrous
“Ludiker Institute” logo in front of the podium—a logo
that features a cartoon human brain hanging between
two electrical towers. He then proceeds to give, in a
mild Teutonic accent, his “advice from hell.”