“The key to finding happiness is to engage in positive thinking about life and the challenges it throws at us.” – Suzanne Kane

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Find insights and inspirations you need to live the life you’ve always dreamed of through my blog articles. My name is Suzanne Kane, and I’m a motivational and passionate blog writer with over 30 years of experience. My mission is to provide thought-provoking blogs and feature articles exploring various topics of interest, including:

Enjoy reading the blogs and feature articles on this website, and feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions. I love hearing from you.

Photo by JR Korpa on Unsplash

August 29, 2023

10 Amazing Ways Laughing Makes Me Happy
I know laughing makes me happy. Yet, some may find that laughing doesn’t come easy, or say they don’t have a funny bone. Truthfully, most of us have experienced situations and times when laughter was the farthest thing from our minds or inappropriate. Yet, even during the worst days, I’ve found that laughing makes me happy. There’s something uniquely healing about laughter that works wonders.

Laughter is Good for Your Health
Numerous studies show that laughter benefits physical and mental health and well-being.  This happens regardless of age or condition.

When you laugh, your body and mind soak up these benefits like a sponge. Knowing that laughter is good for your health is another amazing way laughing makes me happy.

Laughter Decreases Stress – Everyday life is filled with stressors, sometimes inescapable, other times self-imposed. The stress hormone cortisol is the culprit, and it builds with mounting stressors. Research shows that laughter and humor can help alleviate stress and improve memory in older people.

Spontaneous Laughter Improves Well-Being – Other studies of spontaneous laughter found that this laugh type is associated with significantly reduced cortisol levels. Researchers suggest laughter as a potential therapy for improving well-being.

Laughter Improves Mood – And the mood lift is nearly immediate. No wonder laughing feels good.

Physiological Changes Occur After Laughter – Among the many physiological changes from laughing, heart function improves, muscle tone shows improvement, and inflammation decreases after laughing.

Laughing Makes Me Happy: It Feels Great
There’s something about laughing that makes me feel great. It doesn’t matter if the laughter is side-splitting, a mere chuckle takes a while to bubble up, or results in a laughing jag.

Most people associate laughter with social connections, family bonding, treasured memories, and beautiful experiences.

When you laugh, you’re not anxious or threatened. Laughter is comforting, safe, and warm.

Laughter is Contagious and Fun to Share
We always told jokes in my family. There was never a barbecue, holiday, or weekend get-together without everyone trying to outdo themselves with their latest joke routines. Of course, our TV time included comedy shows and movies. The more outrageous, the better.

My biggest joke-telling hurdle was remembering the punch line. The adults would roll their eyes and snicker when I flubbed, but they encouraged me to keep telling jokes. Still, everyone laughed.

My delivery improved with considerable practice. These experiences taught me that laughter sweeps through a group and affects everyone. Seeing other people smile makes me happy, especially when they laugh at my jokes.

Dark Humor Appeals to My Dry Wit
A recent article about dark humor caught my attention. The gist of the piece is that if you love dark humor, you might be a genius. I burst out laughing. No kidding? I might be a genius.

#1 Case in point: I love Halloween, skeletons, ghosts, and goblins. The spookier, the greater the effect. I bought a Día de los Muertos coffee cup, a Mr. Bones t-shirt, a few articulated skeleton tchotchkes, and outdoor decorations. Every time I look at them, I laugh. Something about it appeals to my dry wit.

#2 Case in point: One year, during a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, we extended our stay to participate in the Day of the Dead celebration.

#3 Case in point: Why don’t cannibals eat clowns? Answer: Because they taste funny. (Don’t hate me. This joke was highlighted in the article.) I love it (and the punchline is easy to remember).

Pain Doesn’t Hurt as Much
While everyone experiences pain differently, it’s comforting to know that laughter can help soften pain or make it more tolerable. Having undergone a few surgeries, long recuperations, painful illnesses, and other physical suffering, I welcome the healing laughter brings.

Suggestion: Keep a list of comedies handy to watch during recovery. If you can laugh, the pain may subside briefly while your body heals. Besides, you’re not focused on the pain when you’re laughing.

Sleep Comes Easier After Laughing
After some hearty laughs – especially if it’s been a stressful or busy day – it’s so much easier to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night. Light sleepers can appreciate this since it’s often tough to get a whole night’s sleep when you awaken at every little sound.

Laughter calms my mind so that it’s not crowded with to-do lists and rehashing what went on during the day.

Plus, my dreams are more pleasant.

Overall, it’s a terrific sleep aid and one more amazing reason that laughing makes me happy.

Sadness Goes Away Faster
Anyone who’s dealt with tragedy, death, or illness of loved ones and close friends or is working through personal issues or conditions like depression and anxiety knows that sadness is extremely difficult to overcome. I’ve experienced great sorrow but remain optimistic and cheerful and eagerly anticipate new experiences.

Laughter is an amazing way to help dispel sadness and chip away at anxiety, depressing thoughts, and the blue attitude that often is associated with a litany of problems, family stress, inability to achieve goals, and more.

When someone tells you a hilarious joke (or one that’s so bad you must laugh) when they know you’re sad, it isn’t that you burst out laughing, but that it may make you smile. And smiling helps to ease the sadness. Trust me. I’ve been there.

Long Trips Become More Enjoyable
Do you love to travel on road trips? Or do you have a long commute? Either way, the miles behind the wheel can become tedious, and fatigue can set in. That’s a dangerous situation. Besides having a travel companion or navigator, it helps when you tell jokes, listen to a comedy channel, or do tag storytelling during family travel.

If you’re traveling solo, turn on one of several comedy channels (available on satellite radio). During a rest stop or when refueling, grabbing a snack or a meal, try scrolling through a joke website or listening to something funny.

Laughing is a Quick Way to Defuse Tension
If the air is thick with tension after delicate or complex discussions, try defusing the tension by laughing. This may be challenging when emotions are high, yet it is a technique I’ve found amazingly effective.

Is there a joke you love to share repeatedly? Telling your favorite funny story has a charm all its own. It can make
the other person – and you – smile, and that helps ratchet down the tenseness.

Another tip I’ve found effective in clearing the air is to turn on reruns of a favorite comedy show. We like Two and a Half Men shows, even though we’ve seen most of them several times. I tape a few weeks’ worth and always have one ready.

Put on a t-shirt with a humorous graphic or saying. We have a Mr. Bones t-shirt from Life Is Good that always makes me laugh.

Laughter is a Good Distraction from Problems
Like a melody repeating in your head, problems are a nagging nuisance that consumes valuable emotional space. Besides, running various scenarios and potential solutions for hours on end is incredibly draining. When this happens, you need a good distraction from those problems.

Laughing always helps me stop ruminating about things I haven’t figured out or tasks yet to be completed.
Another benefit of a laugh break is that the out-of-reach solution to the problem may suddenly materialize.

Once you can free up space, your mind works in the background to determine workarounds. This works wonders and always makes me happy. Even if I haven’t solved the problem, I feel much better after
laughing.

If you want to be happy today, get your laugh on. Laughing makes me happy. It can make you happy, too.

August 22, 2023

A thrilling vacation brings you amazing joy while experiencing it and long after your return. Yet, you don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to reap the benefits of an awe-inspiring getaway. Furthermore, even if summer days are approaching an end, there’s still time to explore, renew, refresh, and reinvigorate. Or make plans for later.

What comes to mind when you envision a thrilling vacation? Is it spelunking in underground caves? Climbing
Yosemite’s Half-Dome? Learning to yodel in the Austrian Alps after incredible downhill skiing? Snorkeling in the
Bahamas? Exploring the Mayan ruins of Tulum or Chichen Itza?

Photo by Halie West on Unsplash

While these are unforgettable destinations, embarking on a thrilling vacation doesn’t have to involve anything so exotic. The thrill comes from following your curiosity, pushing yourself to your limits, expanding your skills, learning new things, experiencing various cultures, pleasing your palate, and much more.

Create Indelible Memories with a Thrilling Vacation
When embarking on a thrilling vacation, think about travel destinations that fill you with awe. For example, I’ve been to the Grand Canyon more than a dozen times, and it always fills me with incredible and near-overpowering emotions. For one thing, the vast grandeur reminds me how insignificant trivial matters are. The majestic scenery reinforces my love of nature and appreciation for the evolution of terrestrial landforms.

Also, pay attention to the vivid details of your thrilling vacation experiences. I’ve caught my breath in Utah’s Canyonlands at the starry sky and shooting stars at night. The quiet and the calm made this a highlight of a trip filled with hiking slot canyons, whitewater rafting, group barbeques, sing-alongs by a campfire, and many other exciting activities.

Capture the moments with photos. You can spend the evening posting highlights to your family and friends or on social media. This creates a visual and historical record you can refer to again. These are incredible memories of how this thrilling vacation brings you amazing joy.

Engage Others in Conversation
Vacations are a time to relax and unwind. But they’re also a time to get out there and be social. To be happy and feel joy, you need social relationships. Research shows that happy people have solid relationships.

Start chatting when meeting someone new on a hike in the canyon, during a daylong snorkeling trip, on a sightseeing excursion, or participating in a guided tour. It’s easy to do. Keep the conversation casual and light. Listen and make eye contact.

If the interaction pleases both parties, this can provide opportunities for more in-depth conversations and activities.

The joyful emotions you feel during a thrilling vacation are more intense when you share them with others. This makes the trip more exciting and increases joy. It also helps you relax.

Go for Novel Trips that Spark Learning
Try something new for your next vacation. Instead of returning to favorite locations, aim for a destination with learning opportunities. Yet be sure to include familiar activities so you’re not overly stressed out by how different it is there. For example, suppose you don’t speak the language. In that case, you’ll be troubled by an inability to understand what others are saying – or appreciate signage, travel information, and trip highlights explained by guides.

Experience cultures in foreign countries or visit states in your country you’ve never been to. This helps broaden your knowledge and increase a sense of personal accomplishment. Examples include:

• Cultural activities
• Seeing how wine is made
• Learning how glassblowers create works of art
• Attending a gourmet cooking school
• Participating in an archaeological dig

The point of thrilling vacations that bring you amazing joy is to expand your horizons. Venture beyond what feels comfortable but not so far out that you are terrified.

Increase Travel Frequency for that Thrilling Vacation
Did you know that people who travel more frequently feel more life satisfaction than those who rarely take a vacation? There are many reasons why travel brings happiness and joy, and it’s important to remember that taking a break is not a luxury, but it is a necessity.

Travel, especially taking a thrilling vacation, helps:

• Elevate mood
• Improve life satisfaction
• Leave work behind
• Enjoy a break from everyday life stress
• Be available for personal relaxation
• Improve or deepen relationships with partners and loved ones
• Connect with something bigger than ourselves
• Experience world wonders
• Revitalize, refresh, and rejuvenate
• Rekindle a sense of purpose

Add Several Weekends or Short Getaways During the Year
Only some have three weeks to a month of uninterrupted or available vacation time to take a thrilling trip. That doesn’t mean you can’t take several well-planned and much-needed short getaways throughout the year. You can still attend that blockbuster concert in another city, go for a weekend camping trip in the mountains, get in some deepsea fishing, attend a fashion show, or helicopter in to ski the glaciers.

You won’t leave work too long and reap the benefits of a short, thrilling vacation. Plus, anticipating planning more trips this year is a bonus.

Strive for Experiences, Not Things
Research in 2020 showed that individuals get more happiness from experiences than material things. In every purchase category, when the same person consumed an experience, they derived more pleasure than buying an item. This was true regardless of the cost.

• Consider how you feel when you engage in a thrilling vacation experience, like horseback riding in a wilderness park or feeling an adrenaline rush during downhill skiing on a black diamond course.
• How does that compare with the Hermes handbag or new designer jeans?

You treasure and remember the experience long after the trip ends. The handbag or jeans are merely possessions. You may be happy now but don’t remember them fondly for years afterward.

Factor in Daily Activities that Get You Moving
A cliff walk may be out of the question for some travelers, but it’s on my list. Ditto exploring sandstone outcroppings with petroglyphs. What these have in common is rigorous exercise. The same holds for learning to cross-country ski and many other activities you can do on vacation.

• When you do things that get you moving, you increase the production of endorphins, the feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain.
• Exercise increases serotonin and dopamine, making you happy and calm.
• Furthermore, this production of neurotransmitters and hormones positively affects energy, well-being, mood, and memory.

If you want joy, happiness, resilience, and overall contentment, get moving on your next thrilling vacation.

Look Forward to Creating Magic with a Thrilling Vacation
Some of the world’s most beautiful spots are in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the Maldives. What these have in common is extraordinary underwater exploration, diving, and snorkeling.

Imagine crystal clear water, hundreds to thousands of species of fish surrounding you, and unparalleled underwater experiences that excite you. Pair the adventure with shore lunch, relaxing on tropical beaches, and returning to land invigorated and thrilled beyond words.

Now, this is the way to create magic with a thrilling vacation. Best of all, you can look forward to planning this trip and get even more excited.

Cultivate Your Imagination
For some travelers, visiting the world’s most acclaimed museums to delight in artists’ masterpieces is the hallmark of a thrilling trip. Others find intense pleasure in immersing themselves in cultures so foreign that the only way to experience them is to go there. Experts agree that getting the most out of your vacation requires determining your most appealing travel motivation.
• Escape
• Nature
• History and heritage
• Exploration
• Intensive learning
• Sharing time with family and friends

Broaden Your Culinary Tastes and Delight the Palate
As someone who loves cooking and eating, vacation is complete with many opportunities to sample local cuisine. Of course, I want to visit some of the most highly recommended restaurants, but I also want to eat where the locals hang out. Mom-and-pop chefs catering to crowds of dedicated customers prepared some of the best food I’ve ever eaten on vacation.

For example, when vacationing in Kauai, we discovered a restaurant down the dirt road from the dock where the fishermen sold their day’s fresh catch off the sides of their boats. Every day, the menu featured the best of that day’s haul. I’d never eaten grouper, sea bass, barracuda, wahoo, ono, or other fish. What a thrilling culinary experience!

Photo by Heshan Chamikara on Unsplash

August 1, 2023

Who doesn’t want to win when you lose? Losing stings. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t speaking honestly. No one likes to lose. Yet you can flip this around. Here are ten ways to win when you lose.

Learning how you win when you lose requires a minor mindset shift. It’s not difficult, and it will become easier with practice.

1. Win when you lose: It’s not losing if you learn something.
If everybody loses at one time or another, the key is to profit from the experience. If all you do is grouse over your bad luck or just the wrong timing, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Figure out what went wrong and learn from it. If you come away with a better understanding of what caused this failure, you’re one step ahead when doing it better the next time. Already you’ve turned a loss into the first part of a win.

2. Losing can spur you to renew your commitment.
How much do you want to succeed at the action or endeavor you failed? With the right mindset – wanting a successful outcome – you can rededicate yourself and renew your commitment to the goal. This is part of what it takes to develop a winning strategy and reinforce a winning mentality.

3. Win when you lose: Call on your strengths after you lose.
Losing isn’t pleasant in the best of times. In the worst times, losing can seem like the world is against you. Don’t fall prey to that self-defeating line of thinking. Instead, list your strengths and use them. Some, no doubt, are strengths you haven’t used for a long time. Call on your strengths now. They will reinvigorate your willingness to keep going, to challenge yourself to win again.

4. Remember you never give up.
This isn’t the first time you’ve lost. It’s also not in you to give up. Remember those hurdles you worked so hard to overcome and continued despite how tough it was? Those were little losses, but you remained steadfast and refused to give up. You will win again with this can-do attitude. Keep at it, and you’ll be at the finish line before you know it. Boost your perseverance skills. Keep at it, and you’ll be at the finish line before you know it.

5. Win when you lose: Competition makes you sharp.
If everyone had the same amount of talent and ability, the world would be a boring place. Thankfully, there’s competition. Seeing what others do:

• Sharpens your skills
• Amplifies your determination
• Increases motivation
• Keeps you engaged

Do you want to succeed? Are you in it to win? Pay attention to your competition, even self-competition, and you’ll soon win again. This is another instance where you win when you lose.

6. Once you’ve lost, you have greater compassion – because you know how it feels.
No one likes an arrogant winner. It takes humility – losing – to realize how it feels not to succeed. Since you have lost, you now know how the other person feels. This helps make you a better person, one with compassion and empathy. When you’re in the winner’s circle again, this compassion will help keep your inflated ego at bay.

7. Win when you lose: Look at the broader picture to gain perspective.
It may be tough to see much past the recent loss. Yet that’s exactly what you need to do after you lose. You’ll never be motivated to continue if you can’t gain some perspective to see the broader picture. Your world isn’t a narrow confine or a box you can’t escape. It’s wide open and waiting for you to discover. This should be enough to inspire and motivate you to keep going. Recognize that this most recent loss is one step to success.

8. Realize that you’re already invested.
You’ve already put significant effort into what didn’t work well. In this, you’re already invested. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to profit from the effort you’ve put forth and find new ways of approaching the task. Refresh your memory with what worked well before and modify or adapt those strategies and techniques to the task.

9. Sharing experiences with your network can help you gain new insights.
What you need is a separate set of eyes and ears. By sharing your recent loss experience with your network, you might learn a few things that can help you get back to winning. Talking over what happened and listening to suggestions and techniques that worked for others is often enough to get you winning again. The loss will also feel less painful when you listen to how others came back from losing.

10. Win when you lose: Hold on to your dreams.
In the darkest times, dreams keep us going. Those long-held and dearly prized dreams are nature’s way of pushing us to keep going, especially when things look the least favorable. Your dream may take a little longer, but if you hold fast to it and take small steps toward achieving it, you’re making progress. This is a sign that you’re a winner, even though you may have lost a thousand times before and will again. Hold fast to that dream, and you will achieve it.