Laugh: Guest Post

It's great today to be able to introduce you to Bev Hodgson.


Laugh, laughter, laughing

Starting point – What makes us laugh?

I guess we all laugh at different things. I will always try to find something to laugh
about. Laughter lightens my burdens and helps me get through difficult times.
Perhaps that’s my medical background, where laughter provided a release in trying
circumstances. It’s also infectious: how often does one person’s laughter set another
off – and in the end you forget what you’re laughing at? I know that a good laugh lifts
me, and the effect is positive and lasts a long time.

Laughter crosses all boundaries – is infectious – and can bring us together.

Quote – Laughter is the action or sound of laughing.

Over the Easter holidays, I was working (playing?) in my craft room with the window
open. The two young children opposite us were playing in their garden and their
laughing and giggling really brightened each day. I loved hearing them; they brought
a smile to my face. I miss them now that they are back at school.

Bible Verse – Job 8 v 21: He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with
shouts of joy.

My journal page
The bubbles reflect how laughter bubbles up inside us and how it can be difficult to
hold our laughter in. The circles show how laughter can surround us and spread from
person to person. I have used bright colours on the flowers and background because
when we laugh we can feel brighter.

 Inside the pocket are things that make me laugh –
water fights, playing with bubbles, daft jokes.

Give thanks for the gift of laughter.

Thanks Bev.  Such a bright and happy journal page.

Day 18: Laugh

Quote
I love people who make me laugh.  I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh.  It cures a multitude of ills.  It's probably the most important thing in a person. Audrey Hepburn

Bible Verses
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.   She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.    Proverbs 31:25-26

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.      Job 8:21

Inspiration
Four Candles

)

My blackberry’s not working

)

Gratitude Link
10 benefits

Journaling
What things make you laugh?
When has laughter defused a situation?

Technique
Paper Napkins

 )

Action
Write a note to your church leader or your boss thanking them for the work they do.

And finally
Here is today's PDF.   Don't forget to share your work by adding a link to your page, flickr or blog using the linky.   Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014

Day 17: Welcome mornings

Quotes
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.    William Arthur Ward

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.     Adabella Radici

Bible Verse
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

Inspiration
Thankfulness in the everyday

Gratitude Link
7 singers choose songs

Journaling
Do you struggle to get up in the morning? Do you start each day with a spring in your step or are you weary? How can you be more thankful for each day? In the stressful world we live in, where time seems to fly by at an extraordinary rate, how can you make more of the moment? How can you become more mindful of the things that are important in your life?

Technique

Stamping into your stencil

)

Action
Before you get out of bed each morning be thankful for at least one thing.

Have you added to your gratitude list that you started in Day 1?   Remember, each day this month add something to this list that you are thankful for.  You could take a photo each day.  Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014

And finally
Here is today's PDF.   Don't forget to share your work by adding a link to your page, flickr or blog using the linky.   Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014

Day 16: Show appreciation

Quotes
Make it a habit to tell people thank you.  To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return.  Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you.  Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.   Ralph Marston

Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level.  We need to literally “count our blessings,” give thanks for them, allow ourselves to enjoy them, and relish the experience of prosperity we already have. Shakti Gawain

(Some people) have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy.    A.H. Maslow

Bible Verse
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31

Inspiration
The power of appreciation

)

Humpback Whale

 

Gratitude Link
42 Ways

Journaling
What or who do you most appreciate?
How can you show more appreciation of others?

Technique

An altered book tutorial with a rubber stamp and a stencil

)

Action
Give thanks and appreciation to yourself.  Reflect on the things that you like and love: your qualities, your achievements and any healthy changes you are making.

And finally
Here is today's PDF.   Don't forget to share your work by adding a link to your page, flickr or blog using the linky.  Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014

Day 15: Give generously

Quote
Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.    Author Unknown

Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.”    Edwin Arlington Robinson

Bible Verse
Learn to do right; seek justice.   Defend the oppressed.  Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.    Isaiah 1:17

Inspiration
Homeless Lottery Winner

Scandal of Grace

)

Gratitude Link
The Practice of Gratitude

Journaling
In what way are you generous? Are there other ways in which you could be generous? Have you ever done something for someone without them knowing who it was? What act of generosity shown to you are you most thankful for?

Technique

Art Journaling with stencils

)

Action
Donate canned food and other necessities to the local food bank.

And finally
Here is today's PDF.   Don't forget to share your work by adding a link to your page, flickr or blog using the linky.   Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014

Day 14: Jump for joy

Quote
There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.   Ralph H. Blum

Bible Verse
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.   Psalm 47:1

Inspiration
I will dance

 )

Funny Ballet

)

Springboks

 )

Gratitude Link
6 ways

Journaling
What gives you joy? What things do you do that bring joy to other people? Do you differentiate between joy and happiness?

Technique

Using watercolours with a stencil

)

Action
Leave post-it notes with inspirational messages in random places such as a supermarket shelf, a library shelf or the mirror in a public toilet (restroom).

And finally
Here is today's PDF.   Don't forget to share your work by adding a link to your page, flickr or blog using the linky.   Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014

Day 13: Make memories

Quote
Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.      Lionel Hampton

Every single day do something that makes your heart sing.     Marcia Wieder

Bible Verse
I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever. Psalm 45:17

(I'm very sorry this Bible Verse is missing from the PDF provided at the beginning of May)

Inspiration
Thanks for the Memory Ella Fitzgerald

)

Spoof Video

)

Gratitude Link
A practical guide to gratitude

Journaling
What memories are you most thankful for? Looking back on memories of hurtful times, what lessons have you learned that you can be thankful for?

Technique
Letting go of control with a stencil and spray inks

)

Action
Out of the blue, send some flowers to a friend.

And finally
Here is today's PDF.   Don't forget to share your work by adding a link to your page, flickr or blog using the linky.   Or tweet using #21daysinMay2014