In one of Loretta Laroche’s talks (comedian, public speaker, author) she shares eight big reasons why people aren’t able to lighten up:

Eight Reasons We Can’t Lighten Up

1.      We’re too busy. (Let’s face it? Will we ever not be busy?)

2.      We’re afraid of what they may say.  (I don’t know who they are, but they sure stop the laughter for a lot of people.)

3.      The committee is meeting.  (Many of us are filled with inner critics who want us to be terminally serious adults.)

4.      We need to be right.  (It’s hard to laugh if we’re always proving a point.)

5.      We have a tendency to judge and criticize.  (This comes up a lot, doesn’t it?)

6.      We’ve got too many rules and regulations.  (When we behave like drill sergeants and life is a forced march, it becomes difficult to chuckle.)

7.      We need to suffer  (before, during, and after anything stressful.)

8.      We’ve got too much ego.  (When we’re over-inflated, we can’t laugh because we’re afraid we’ll lose our sense of importance.)

Don’t those really highlight how ridiculous the things we do are?!

We could all definitely use a big dose of lightening up in our lives! We need to stop being too busy; stop being afraid of what other people might say; stop being so critical of ourselves and others; stop limiting ourselves; stop wallowing, and stop having so much ego!!

I say we all start making more time for FUN! We need to start living without worry of what others might think; start being more compassionate with ourselves and with others; start branching out and being willing to try new things; start being grateful for everything in our lives; and start laughing at ourselves with that full belly laugh that comes from letting our egos go!

It’s time we all start choosing to LIGHTEN UP!

~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )