Keep Comic Relief in Your Toolbox for Emergencies

The cards I pulled today, Sobriety and Stay Positive, may not seem relevant to you. You might be thinking, “well, I’m already sober!” Or you might interpret sobriety in terms of mood, and feel that being positively sober is a contradiction in terms. But I love contradictions (see my sidebar…) and last night I dreamt about comedians (yes, I have pretty strange dreams sometimes), so today, the idea of positive sobriety says to me, straight man, and, laughter is the best medicine.

It is hard to stay positive and to expect only the best when life is throwing your curveballs. At such a time, we need a tool that can quickly release tension in one joyful burst. I’m not joking (although I’m encouraging you to joke). At the most difficult times, we need to think of turning to comedy. These are times when it’s useful to have a collection of stand-up (You Tube is a great resource for this), or a Calvin and Hobbes treasury…whatever works for you.

Collecting comedy is not an idle hobby or something to do when you’re bored. It’s something that should be in your mental health first-aid box as a first line of defense against anxiety, tension, stress, and depression, for those moments when you need to raise your vibration and generate hope, stat.