Something happens to many of us during the transition between childhood and adulthood. Besides the obvious physical changes, emotionally we change as well.

Somehow, we start taking ourselves too seriously. We stop joking around, we stop acting “silly” – a judgemental term usually directed at behaviour deemed to be unsuitable for our age.

“Grow up.” “Act your age.” These admonitions get ironed into our brains at some point. And, as we start to deal with the pressures of careers, relationship problems, financial worries, family issues, and a host of other “adult” problems, sometimes laughter grows silent.

What do we lose, when we stop laughing? A lot. We cease to stay in tune with that part of ourselves that helps us relax, and often helps us cope. Most of us at one time or another have gone through something that seemed horrible at the time, only to be able to look back on it later through a comical lens.

How can we start laughing again? We just need to look at ourselves – not in a mocking way or in terms of making fun at someone else’s expense, but at the situations in our lives that could go either way as either serious or funny.

I was recently shopping while in a rather tense mood and as I was checking out, I accidentally knocked over a display of – please note the irony here – stress balls. Normally, I would be horrified with embarassment, but instead I made a choice to laugh about it. Okay, I apologized all over myself to the checkout clerk, but afterwards I had a good chuckle.

So, stop being so serious. Have you laughed at yourself lately?