Laughing at your fears

One of the wonders of Halloween festival is to turn fear into laughter… well, not always, but most of the time this is its effect.

In fact, humor is a very powerful weapon against fear. To laugh or at least to smile at something that scares you, it empowers you.

So, let’s play a bit of a Reflective Halloween:

• Disguise yourself! Whenever you face something that triggers fear in you, just disguise yourself… not necessarily physically. For instance, if you are afraid of what your boss will tell you about that project delay, remember your triumphs and visualize you are the champion with a medal or a laurel wreath … then, talk to the boss!
• Pumpkins with candles! It is part of Halloween to decorate houses in a frightening way, transforming very harmless things – a pumpkin, a candle, a broom – into objects of fear… or power? Yes, instead of FRIGHT these objects have been empowered. So, transform your house in a house of power: your seat is a throne, your table is like King Arthur's Round Table and one of your rooms is a sacred place.
• Myths and legends… It is an important part of Halloween and there is lots of wisdom in that. ALL FEARS come from personal myths and legends, and if you remember movies well, at the end the hero or heroine – YOU! – always win. Next time you experience fear, just laugh at it and remember you are the hero or heroine of your own tale, whatever is taking place, you are the winner!

Adverse situations can be faced with internal stability, and a touch of humour - Reason 19

Do you remember The Lion King[1]?  As an animated movie, it brought fresh air to an industry and company that really needed it, combining an exceptional blend of humour and tragedy.

A little spoiler alert in case you haven’t watched it!  On the way to become a king, Simba suffered a big tragedy in his life, but the way he deals with it is to just move one and enjoy a free life in jungle.

That is the inspiration part of being a leader in difficult situations: nothing is too bad so that your mood goes off.  But the leader’s wit comes from a deep sense of stability, not from carelessness or worse, by feeling disheartened.

Nobody is really invincible and yet, when you are a leader, even your worst defeat turns into an occasion for reflection and self-progress.  Maybe it is the fact that a person who takes on a leadership mind-set will have truth by his or her side, or maybe it is the wisdom a leader builds along a life’s journey…  Whatever it is, obstacles in front of a leader become part of that journey’s landscape.

Isn’t it good to be a leader?  A leader is merged in a lead role of a hero movie and you just know the end will be brilliant!

(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)

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[1] The Lion King was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1994.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King

Balance between being serious and having humor

Let's face it; probably the Friends theme song has it clear: always stuck in second gear... OK, not always, but a good amount of our time on this planet passes by trying to solve a problem, recovering from a situation or preparing the self for something that is coming.

Reality makes us crying and laughing at alternative times. But there is a secret behind: even the worse problems exist to make us all better.

This is why it is important to live life fully, without complaints or regrets, just enjoying whatever is coming. After all, everything turns to be good...

How to do it? Here is a trick that can help many people. Just use humor more and more.

It is true many times we have to be serious and solve situations with a sober mind. It is true we have to solve situations without a smile. It is true sometimes we have to be very stern with other people.

But it is also true most of the times we can make a joke. It is true we can smile even in front of tragedies, knowing we are strong enough to tolerate them. It is true we can use humor to deflect sadness; after all, being sad does not help to solve anything.

A balance between both will help us to overcome all obstacles that come on our way.

Humor, the essence of your own life

No jokes on chickens or bars; humor is taking the world.

Beforehand, only a few people could make use of it. Nowadays, anyone tries to use humor as a weapon against being bored or to avoid conflicts. I am not talking here about irony or sarcasm, humor's "evil twins". I am talking of a pure and sensitive humor sense that enables someone to change the view in relation to any situation, no matter how dark it is, and, of course, turn the environment a little more cheerful...

And that is fundamental when you work, in your family environment or at the time to talk to your neighbor about his unhealthy habit of playing loud songs at 11.30 pm... Because humor presents the situations in a new different light and resistance is decreased by that quality, allowing changes to happen. Real sensitive humor; other types of humor probably will help you to get a smack on your head or you will have to watch over your shoulder for the rest of your life expecting revenge...

Personally, I was never a funny guy, but I noticed something... It was in Chile, in '92, when I was leaving the last company I worked there, coming back to my birthplace, São Paulo. I used to work for Borland, at that time one of the giants in software for microcomputers; I started to make jokes to lighten the atmosphere of my farewell party when a co-worker mentioned that I used humor to deflect sadness... And I must say she was totally right, after all what do you think it is better, to laugh or to cry?

With humor I can accept a bitter order by my boss or avoid retorting to some comment my dad made. I can fall and laugh at that and I can make jokes on my own failure... Real humor gives comfort and strength, but it only works when it comes from you, from your own dharma as a person.

But, how to develop that? First of all, if you don't have sense of humor, believe me when I tell you can develop it... Second, try to detach from your own self. German, a great Chilean comedian, says that his trick is to make jokes on himself, not on others' expenses; this makes his videos very funny as they came from his own experience. So, if you can detach yourself, you can use your wonderful life as a source of humor, and I tell you, what a source!!!

A last tip: smile a lot. Laughter can last for some time; while smiles can last forever, generate a light environment and make people opener to your comments... they can even laugh at that!



P.S. Well, it is kind of lacking some humor in here...
Do you know why I don't like performing, not even dancing in front of others? Well, when I was a child I decided to perform in front of my whole class (and the whole school, in fact). I was the frog who turned into the prince, you know the story... I still remember the moment I raised and declared myself as the prince, something happened there and people laughed at me forever, destroying a very promising future actor!!

Preparation for a successful New Year

The New Year is not just a set of positive affirmations. Nor is the denial of reality, as you cannot drown your problems in a euphoria that lasts hours or up to a few days.

New Year is something SERIOUS, for which we need three keys to ensure its success: lots of creativity, meditation and humor. How to experience this?

Creativity will grant you novelty in life. Old formulas tend to give a lot of pain ... It is better to reinvent the self. Change your consciousness, use new attitudes, try a change in your way of seeing the world and of course, some physical changes are always beneficial. Do not forget that you have a potential MUCH bigger than what you do now - explore it without fear, with love towards yourself and enthusiasm to transform the life you lead.

Meditate and experience a new inner world, an infinite world that can never end. It is the experience of who you really are, in contrast to the experience of your current state. It is living this inner happiness in your being, which is there, waiting you to leave aside old habits of unhappiness and sadness. Meditate. Daily.

And do not forget that New Year is something serious, because your life is at stake. So never miss your good humor. No matter what happens, do not let the smile disappear from your heart and watch everything going on around you as a new opportunity, something wonderful. Through humor you have the unique chance to feel like a little child for whom the world is always open to give the best it has.

If you only work on these three keys in your life, you will see the overall success which will take shape before your eyes. A success that will not only make you feel full, it will inspire many other people too.

May you have an incredible New Year!

Lost or loose thoughts?

• I couldn't avoid... BroxZoosCobra's twitters were the best! Full of humour, at the same time took me into a nice tour around New York. It is still going on. I think INTERNET has become a wonderful way to know people with talent - whomever is representing the cobra is a great comedian. (or, you believe it was the cobra itself?)
• Now I have the "modern" passport. Some people are calling it electronic passport, but it is the same one (two pages more...), about 3 times more expensive and with smaller letters. No complain, however.
• Did you know life is always preparing you for something? My mind world map consists of very few countries where I would love to live, visit a few times or tour around. Korea is not one of them - my thoughts have always been in its neighbour, Japan (all my feelings for its people!). Anyway, a few years back I've met Ruth, an English woman who lived 30 years in Korea. Few years later, I've met a couple from Cartagena, Colombia, whose son was studying or working in Korea. About 2 years ago, I've met a young woman who was living in Brazil, guess where she was from?? Well, now I am about to kick off my first work of the year, with a company whose CEO is... YES! KOREAN! Then, I had all these people who gave me fascinating hints about the culture and people there.
• In relation to the former entry, I was just checking a webpage, http://www.geert-hofstede.com/. Although very professional, they say there that Korean culture is basically the same as Latin culture. Wrong, fellows! I am Latin and, no, no comparison with Korean. So, yesterday, when I was checking again on the Principle of Uncertainty, it confirmed my theory: you alter whatever you were observing. By watching each culture, people from this company they "changed" their culture.

Well, take care, see you soon!!!