Natural Medicine of Humor

Giving Thanks for the Natural Medicine of Humor

2007-11-25T09:45:00.000-05:00

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. And the natural medicine of humor has provided the Kuhn family with another pleasant time.

If you're like me, Frank Capra doesn't direct your life. You don't have "storybook" family relationships; your family doesn't look like a made-for-television movie-of-the-week.

I don't mean that my family is awful. But my family is certainly not like the ones promoted by advertisers and holiday movie makers. Those types of families only exist in the media.

Those media-created families are fun to watch. They are an ideal and ideals are great goals. But you should never measure yourself against ideals.

(In fact, you should never measure yourself against anything. Life is, after all, NOT a competition!)

Luckily for us, the natural medicine of humor provides us with the antidote for measuring ourselves against unrealistic ideals. One of my Smile Strategies is to Tell the Truth. There's a lot of emotional freedom in being honest about how annoying Grandma is or how irritating Uncle Frank can be. Telling the Truth (to yourself) is a great way to get rid of stress!

But don't stop there! Humor's natural medicine has more in store; another of my Smile Strategies is Appreciate Everything. After telling the truth about Uncle Frank, make it your mission to find something about him to appreciate. You can say, "Uncle Frank really tries hard to please us and make us laugh; I appreciate his efforts and his intentions are good."

Appreciating the people around you might do nothing to change their behavior, but it will do wonders for your attitude. And you'll be amazed at how humor's natural medicine turns your attitude around and changes your experiences dramatically!

Try these two Smile Strategies throughout this holiday season. Since our holiday traditions are all idealized (to some degree), you'll find yourself smiling more and having more fun when you use the natural medicine of humor to free yourself from holiday stress!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"It all Starts with a SMILE"

If you're interested in manifesting abundance this holiday season and beyond, read my son's facinating website.

Natural Medicine Of Humor Lets You Perform Just Like Mary Lou Retton

2006-01-17T20:15:00.000-05:00

Do you remember watching a great gymnast, like Mary Lou Retton? You've never seen such amazing ability to flip and twist in the air. And then, after all the mid-air gyrations and a fancy dismount, she lands squarely on her feet.

Except when she doesn't.

You've seen what Mary Lou Retton does when she lands off balance, right? She tries to maintain a precarious off balance "freeze," with her arms spread, and a big grin. She strikes a pose as if to say, "I meant to do that!"

You don't think the judges are fooled by that, do you? Me neither. But it's a great model for all of us and it invokes the natural medicine of humor.

Well, we all land off balance like that sometimes. Especially when you are incorporating something new, like humor, into all areas of your life. Sooner or later you do or say something embarrassing.

During such moments, you could attack yourself. But I want you to try something else; I want you to adopt the "Mary Lou Retton." Which means you tell yourself, "I meant to do that!"

The "Mary Lou Retton" amounts to being kinder to yourself. Which reinforces my Fun Commandment of Taking Yourself Lightly. And, if you allow yourself more slack in this way, you will soon find yourself becoming more tolerant of others as well.

Tolerance and kindness are, after all, always welcome in our social interactions and their roots can be traced right to your humor nature!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Can Take You To Zen

2006-01-11T21:22:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine, recently retired, told me he signed up at our community college for a course in meditation. I told him that was better than him sitting around and doing nothing!

Meditation rests your brain, right? But do you find it difficult to sit still for extended periods of time?

I have good knews for you! Did you know that laughter gives your brain a vacation? Sounds wild, but it's true. Once again, the natural medicine of humor provides your health a big boost.

I've watched the rate of cerebral blood flow using PET scans. When you are sad or crying, your brain works overtime. When you laugh, however, your brain doesn't work as hard.

If fact, when you laugh your PET scan looks the same as if you are in a deep state of meditation or relaxation. Yes...it turns out that laughter is both a natural medicine and a mini-meditation for your brain.

And frequent bursts of laughter add up, over time, to have the same effect as lengthy meditation. So break out your favorite humor props and get enlightened with the most fun form of meditation known to humankind!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Humor's Natural Medicine Kicks In When You Merely Have The Right Attitude

2006-01-07T20:36:00.000-05:00

A subtle shift in your attitude is all that is required to experience the boundless energy of the natural medicine of humor.

An attitude of willingness...of lightness...is all that is necessary. This attitude is more subtle, yet more pervasive, than a posture of "always joking around." It communicates receptivity, flexibility, and a trusting fondness for the human spirit.

Even when outright laughter is not particularly welcome of appropriate, the attitude of lightness and kindness usually is.

You see...creating an atmosphere for fun all around you is the goal. Establishing this atmosphere is much more important than laughing to experience the amazing natural medicine of humor. Not everything that's fun, after all, is funny!

Fun can mean the simple appreciation of a sunset, a beautiful passage of music, or a baby's precious smile. None of these events need provoke outright laughter - yet they are positive experiences that contribute to your health.

Even a slight shift in your attitude in the direction of indulging your sense of humor, permitting your childlike playfulness to emerge, will produce massive influxes of the natural medicine of humor. Make this a deliberate goal and prove it to yourself today.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Use The Natural Medicine Of Humor To Distinguish Between Healthy And Unhealthy Humor

2006-01-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

Healthy humor will make you healthy. Unheathly humor will make you...well...sick.

Healthy humor is usually more subtle and gentle. It occurs naturally. Unhealthy humor, since it is based on a lie (the lie that we are different from one another), must be contrived and more forcefully set up.

To exploit the apparent differences between us, unhealthy humor must distract you from a basic truth, which is that we are all a lot more alike than different.

The good news is that since healthy humor reflects the truth, it is more abundant. It is all around us. Healthy humor is like an undercurrent that runs through everything.

You need only train yourself to become more aware of it and receptive to it. Furthermore, since it is healthy humor that you are seeking, you can drop some of your apprehensions and reluctance based on the fear that your laughter will be offensive or painful to others.

Hopefully, this will increase your willingness and freedom to dip into the natural medicine of humor, moving you closer to my prescribed thirty minutes a day of laughter.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Guide

2005-12-21T22:59:00.000-05:00

In keeping with tradition, I like to post my site map periodically. Especially when I have been adding to my website...which I have been doing quite regularly lately.

Enjoy!

The Natural Medicine of Humor Adds Happiness to Your Life Right Away

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Helps You With Santa's Identity

2005-12-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

Thirty years ago my then nine-year-old son, Greg, asked me an earth-shattering question: "Dad, I want you to tell me the truth," he said. "Is Santa Claus real?"

I told him, without hesitation, that, "Yes, son, Santa Claus is real."

I wasn't The Laugh Doctor yet, but I was already investigating, and experimenting with, humor as a natural medicine. As a psychiatrist, I understood that your thoughts and attitudes create your reality. I intuitively knew that there was more to humor than the research was telling us.

It stood to reason that if you used humor as a natural medicine, you would change your reality as you changed your attitude. After all, life is like a glass of water - you either see it as half-full or half-empty. Either way it's the same glass of water - so, given the choice, why wouldn't you choose to see it as half-full?

And I've since proven, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that you have no better resource than the natural medicine of humor to help you see the glass as half-full today.

My early understanding of the natural medicine of humor helped me explain my answer to Greg. Here's what I told him:

"Yes, Greg, Santa is real.

Santa Claus is magical and he is real, but his magic is a special magic just for children who believe in him. The moment you decide not to believe in him, he is no longer real for you. And your Mom and I will then make your Christmas as special for you as Santa does.

Now, it's okay if you decide not to believe in Santa Claus; I promise you will still have a wonderful Christmas. But it's also okay to believe in Santa and, as long as you decide to do so, he is as real as I am."

To which my daughter, Rebecca, immediately chimed in, "Greg, I know Santa is real. Think about it - he brings us big, expensive presents. Mom and Dad can't afford those presents!"

Those words are still just as true today! Here's to your use of the natural medicine of humor this holiday season!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How The Natural Medicine Of Humor Can Help You With Employee Recommendations

2005-12-12T22:53:00.000-05:00

Ever have to write a letter of recommendation for a fired employee? Or, ever have to make a decision about hiring someone you aren’t sure about? These key phrases may give you a clue about the REAL meanings. You never know when they might come in handy – or serve as fair warning!

Regarding an employee who is chronically absent:

"A man like him is hard to find."

"It seemed her career was just taking off."

For the office drunk:

"I feel his real talent is wasted here."

"We generally found him loaded with work to do."

"Every hour with him was a happy hour."

For an employee with no ambition:

"He could not care less about the number of hours he
had to put in."

"You would indeed be fortunate to get this person to
work for you."

For an employee who is so unproductive that
the job is better left unfilled:

"I can assure you that no one would be better for the job."

For an employee who is not worth further consideration
as a job candidate:

"I would urge you to waste no time in making this candidate
an offer of employment."

"All in all, I cannot say enough good things about this
candidate or recommend him too highly."

For a stupid employee:

"There is really nothing you can teach a man like him."

"I most enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no
qualifications whatsoever."

For a dishonest employee:

"Her true ability was deceiving."

"He's an unbelievable worker."

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Helps With Hair Loss Stress

2005-12-09T22:41:00.000-05:00

Are you losing your hair? If so, have you experienced hair loss stress like millions of Americans? Think I don't know about hair loss stress? Check out my photo on my home page.

I started going bald in my mid-twenties...and I was a very vain young man! I had hair loss stress for over a decade and, like many, spent hundreds on ointments, cures, and fixes.

But I never found a magic bullet and neither will you. And as long as you continue to search for one, you'll have no end to your hair loss stress.

Do you need to take the plunge like me and shave your head? Nope. That action was very liberating for me, but you should feel free to pursue whatever appearance makes you the most comfortable.

What I do recommend to alleviate your hair loss stress is to use the natural medicine of humor. How? Read my hair loss stress article for some great ideas on how to do that.

Please let me know what you think!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Teaches You To "Smile When You Say That"

2005-12-06T23:09:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite Gary Cooper movies is "The Virginian", because of one particular scene. A man makes an insulting remark. Cooper turns toward the perpetrator, gives him a withering stare, and calmly says, "If you want to call me that, smile."

Good advice for us all.

What a great habit to cultivate. By smiling when you speak, you encourage others to be more receptive to whatever you have to say.

Try it right now. Go to a mirror. Look deeply into your own eyes (aren't they lovely?). Say out loud, "I love you and I have voice immodulation disorder!"

Notice how the smile softens the impact of the words and adds a forgiving element? You may actually think negative things when you see yourself in the mirror sometimes. But I'll bet, delivered with a smile, those negatives are more difficult to take seriously!

So, the assignment is to practice saying everything with a smile, as though you were talking to Gary Cooper. Whenever you start to speak, remember to turn up the corners of your mouth before saying the first word.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

An Easy Way For You To Make Your Work Fun

2005-11-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

You'll discover that the practicalities of making work fun are very similar to making anything else fun.

Chances are at least fifty percent, however, that you are working for someone who trivializes fun. You don't need to bash those bosses who find fun too risky to incorporate, but you do need to understand that you may be on your own regarding enjoying the benefits of humor in the workplace. Having fun is an "inside job," requiring the type of self-discipline we Humor Beings are famous for.

Here's a great "hands-on" strategy for making work fun: Smile more often. This is the most basic strategy for fun at work and it is foolproof. If you make it a priority to smile more often at work this week, you will be amazed at the results. Even if you are smiling often, you can always do it more. This week, commit to smiling every time you become aware that you are not.

Start smiling early in your day! You'll have more resilience and tolerance for the trip to work (those other drivers may still be idiots, but you won't take it so personally).

If you start smiling early enough, by the time you get to work, you will already be having a successful day. It is much easier to perpetuate success, than to "kick-start" it from a standstill when you get to your workstation.

I trust I don't have to recount how smiling benefits you by telling you that it boosts morale, peps up your immune system, releases endorphins, stimulates creativity, enhances communication, inspires hope, etc.? And, remember, even if you fake a smile you still get these benefits!

So don't forget that simple, yet powerful, smile during your work day. Keep your focus on smiling no matter what you're called to do.

One thing at work that drags us down is a feeling of insignificance. Consider this: Gene, from a recent cancer support group, theorized that if everybody on the planet smiled simultaneously, we could heal the world. What if, by some miracle, everybody on the planet was smiling at the same time -- except you? Wouldn't you feel terrible holding us all back like that? Take back control of your smile and you'll have more fun at work!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Lose Weight Using Laughter - Safely And Easily

2005-11-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

How to lose weight…it’s screamed at you in 1 out of every 4 advertisement headlines. You’d think with all that attention and focus, someone could come up with a reliable method that really worked. Well, there is such a method. And who would’ve guessed that it’s 100% free and is found abundantly in your natural chemistry?

What if I taught you how to lose weight using a simple, easy, and free method? This method has been repeated proven to work by researchers working in our most respected academic institutions. And the best part about this method is that you don’t need to make any drastic changes to your lifestyle or your diet.

So if you’ve ever wondered how to lose weight easily and permanently, your questions have now been answered. The method for how to lose weight without any dramatic changes and without paying any money is simple – laughter.

Vanderbilt University Proves, Once Again, that Laughter is How to Lose Weight Simply and Effortlessly

The latest proof comes from researchers at Vanderbilt University, who concluded that 15 minutes of laughter burns as much as 50 calories. In fact, Mac Buchowski, Ph.D. says a healthy laugh a day “could burn 2 to 4 pounds of fat, even without changing your dietary habits.” When a nutritionist and a professor of bionutrition like Dr. Buchowski endorses laughter as an easy way to lose weight, you’ve just got to take advantage of the advice.

How to take full advantage of Dr. Buchowski's findings? How to lose weight using laughter?

Come to my website to find out, for free, how to lose weight using laughter...and much, much more.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How Observant Are You?

2005-11-08T16:49:00.000-05:00

This is a fun quiz about ordinary, everyday objects and it can be more difficult than it looks - but it's a lot of fun.

There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? The average person only gets 7 correct.

Put your thinking caps on. No cheating! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your desk or computer!

On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?

How many states are there in the USA?

In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?

What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?

What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?

When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg?

How many matches are in a standard pack?

On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?

What is the lowest number on the FM dial?

Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?

Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?

How many channels on a VHF TV dial?

On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons?

Which way do fans rotate?

How many sides does a stop sign have?

Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?

How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?

How many sides are there on a standard pencil?

Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?

How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?

On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?

On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?

There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?

How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?

Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?

ANSWERS

On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom? BOTTOM

How many states are there in the USA? 50

In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch? RIGHT

What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label? BLUE, RED,
WHITE, YELLOW, BLACK & GOLD

What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them? 1, 0

When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? RIGHT

How many matches are in a standard pack? 20

On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white? RED

What is the lowest number on the FM dial? 88

Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?
CLOCKWISE

Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run? TOWARDS BOTTOM RIGHT

How many channels on a VHF TV dial? 12 (no #1)

On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons? LEFT

Which way do fans rotate? CLOCKWISE AS YOU LOOK AT IT

How many sides does a stop sign have? 8

Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side? LEFT

How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel? 5

How many sides are there on a standard pencil? 6

Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing? BASHFUL

How many hot dog buns are in a standard package? 8

On which playing card is the card maker's trademark? ACE OF SPADES

On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening
between the slats? LEFT

There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits? *, #

How many curves are there in the standard paper clip? 3

Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise? COUNTER

Some of these are pretty tricky, huh? And to think we encounter these objects everyday...

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Why Are You Holding That Glass Of Water All Day?

2005-11-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

At a talk I was giving recently, an audience member asked me to explain stress. Looking down, I noticed the glass of water the conference host had thoughtfully placed on the lecturn for me. I raised the glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Various answers rang out.

I acknowledged the responses and said, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.”

"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem... If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm…If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. "

I continued, "And that's the way it is with our worries and fears."

"If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we become affected by them. And that's called stress."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again."

"When we're refreshed, we can carry on. "

"And that is precisely why we were born with the amazing resource of humor. This natural medicine, which exists in abundance in your own personal chemisty, is capable of keeping your perspective off your fears and worries...regardless of your circumstances."

"Use humor to keep putting your glass down; there is no reason for your to hold it longer than a few seconds."

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Things That Make Me Scratch My Head

2005-11-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

Here are nine things that make me scratch my head and wonder:

People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is, where is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?

People who are willing to get off their rear to search the entire room for the T.V. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the channel manually.

When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Darn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?

When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the heck would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they?

When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the floor.

People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya?

When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.

When people say "life is short". What the...?? Life is the longest thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?

When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here?

How To Avoid Offending Blind People

2005-10-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

According to BuyCostumes.com, the most popular Halloween costumes this year are fantasy figures, like mythical heroes and witches. And not the evil, green, wart-nosed witches of fairy tales either...fancy, nice, good witches.

It seems that, this Halloween, you are choosing to forget about the real-life horrors you're encountering like outrageous gas prices, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and Supreme Court nominations - and choosing to have fun. Good for you!

I also saw a list of politically incorrect costumes. You know how "far out" political correctness can get; along with the expected ethnic stereotypes, I noticed "pirate costumes with eye patches." Why? "They may offend blind people."

How would they know? I have a simple idea...let's just not tell them.

Happy Halloween!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

And People Actually Wonder Why I Became The Laugh Doctor!

2005-10-26T20:42:00.000-04:00

My Dad, Carol Kuhn, was living the last of his life in a nursing home in Pennsylvania. One day he appeared to be very sad and depressed. Dad's nurse, Kathy, asked if there was anything wrong.

"Yes," said my Dad, "My private part died today and I am very sad."

Knowing my Dad was forgetful and sometimes a little "off", she replied, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Kuhn, please accept my condolences."

The following day, Dad was walking down the hall with his "little guy" hanging out of his pajamas, when he met Nurse Kathy.

"Mr. Kuhn," she said, "You shouldn't be walking down the hall like that, please put your private part back in your pajamas."

"But, Nurse Kathy," replied Dad, "I told you yesterday that my private part died."

"Yes, you did tell me that, but why is it hanging out of your pajamas?" asked Nurse Kathy.

"Well," he replied, "today's the viewing."

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Find Out Just About Anything Related To The Natural Medicine Of Humor

2005-10-24T16:11:00.000-04:00

Someone recently asked me, "So what is on your website anyway? What's it about?" I'd thought I'd make that an easy answer by periodically posting a site map in my blog. I hope this is of some help.

A Navigational Table of Contents for Natural Humor Medicine.com

The Natural Medicine of Humor Adds Happiness to Your Life Right Away

The Grown-Up Version Of "The Dog Ate My Homework"

2005-10-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

CareerBuilder.com recently asked managers to reveal the funniest and most unusual excuses given by employees for missing work.

Here are some of the best:

"I'm too drunk to drive to work."

"I accidentally flushed my keys down the toilet."

"I had to help deliver a baby on my way to work."

"I accidentally drove through the automatic garage door before it opened." (Okay...now that one I can believe)

"My boyfriend's snake got loose and I am afraid to leave the bedroom until he gets home."

"I'm too fat to get into my work pants."

"God didn't wake me."

"The ghosts in my house kept me up all night."

"I forgot I was getting married today."

"My cow bit me."

"My house lock jammed and I'm locked in."

Those are funny, but don't make up excuses anymore. Tell your boss the truth - that you're going out to have some fun.

Stop by my website first!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

A Thank You For All The Email Chain Letters

2005-10-20T17:46:00.000-04:00

I want to thank you who have taken the time and trouble to send me your chain letters over the past 12 months. Thank you for making me feel safe, secure, blessed, and wealthy. Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS. I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me. I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army. I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers. I no longer have any sneakers -- but that will change once I receive my free replacement pair from Nike. I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe. I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

Thanks to you, I have learned that God only answers my prayers if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl who is about to die in the hospital (for the 1,387,258th time).

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program. Yes, I want to thank you so much for looking out for me that I will now return the favor!

I must add my thanks to whoever sent me the one about rat crap in the glue on envelopes cause I now have to get a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing. Also, I scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

Have a wonderful day!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Have Fun In China

2005-10-13T21:53:00.000-04:00

Here is a real-life list of travelers' tips issued by the Chinese government in 1994:

"Don't squat when waiting for a bus or a person. Don't spit in public. Don't point at people with your fingers. Don't make noise. Don't laugh loudly. Don't yell or call to people from a distance. Don't pick your teeth, pick your nose, blow your nose, pick at your ears, rub your eyes, or rub dirt off your skin. Don't scratch, take off your shoes, burp, stretch, or hum."

Wow, sign me up! I'm calling my travel agent today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Excuse Yourself From The Table

2005-10-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

Those of you familiar with my website and my comedy know I don't work "blue." I'm a cleam comic, but this joke was too funny to pass up. I hope it makes you smile like it did for me -- you know how important it is to smile!

During class, a 6th grade teacher trying to teach good manners asks the students, one by one:

"Rich, if you were on a date, having supper with a nice young lady, how would you tell her that you have to go to the bathroom?" she asked.

"Just a minute, I have to go pee."

The teacher replied "That would be rude and impolite! What about you Bill, how would you say it?"

"I am sorry, but I really need to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

The teacher responded,"That's better, but it's still not very nice to say the word bathroom at the table. And you Little Bernie, are you able to use your intelligence for once and
show us your good manners?"

I would say, "Darling, may I please be excused for a moment; I have to shake hands with a very dear friend of mine, whom I hope you'll get to meet after supper."

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Annoy Your Parents

2005-10-03T21:40:00.000-04:00

By Jordan Kuhn

My nine-year-old grandson

(Who, by the way, has already had a story published by our local newspaper, The Courier-Journal)

Chapter 1

Getting to Know Your Parents Secrets

Go up to your parent’s bedroom and listen to what their saying.

Listen to what they’re saying on the phone to their friends.

Chapter 2

Messing With Your Parents

Read at the dinner table and don’t stop until they yank it out of your hands.

Hide the phone and press the pager button when your little baby brother or sister is sleeping (If you have one).

Beg to your parents to let you ride in the front seat.

Chapter 3

Make Your Family Look Dumb When Guests are over

Make disgusting noises at the dinner table.

Try to burp as loud as you can.

Keep yelling until your parents cup their hand over your mouth.

P.S. Please come to my website and share your own cute son,daughter, or grandchild story!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Why You Should Smile...Right Now

2005-09-30T15:22:00.000-04:00

I can't say this enough:

Smiling relieves muscle tension, enhances immunity and increases pain tolerance. It also attracts positive responses from the people who are important to you.

And a smile does this whether you're "faking it" or not.

So, whenever you catch yourself without a smile, put one on immediately and hold it for as long as you can - even if you have to fake it.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Get Your Hair Cut Like A Wealthy Person

2005-09-25T13:35:00.000-04:00

My family was one of the reasons humor has always been so special to me; we were poor, growing up outside of Philadelphia, but my Dad always kept us loose and carefree with his slapstick comedy.

I remember, once, Dad rushed me to the hospital in his boxer shorts after I had split my tongue falling from my tricycle. He had been in the house taking a nap and ran out without a thought about his clothes. We all laughed about that for many years.

Last week, while being prepped for a photo shoot, it occurred to me how much my life has changed. As the make-up artist gave my head a fresh shave for the camera, I remembered how my brother and I got haircuts as youngsters. It sure was different back then!

Do you know how a person without much money gets a haircut? My brother and I sure do! Because we could only afford a haircut (at most) once a month, we were taught to schedule them strategically.

You see, a poor person has to have his hair cut like clothing is purchased for a growing child; you have to get your hair cut shorter than the optimal length because you're going to go at least another month before you get another cut. You get your hair cut to "grow into it."

So once my brother and I started caring about our appearances, we would carefully script our haircuts. I knew that my teenaged hair looked best exactly six days after my haircut - after six days of post-haircut growth, my hair was (what I considered) the perfect length. So, if I had a big date, I would schedule a haircut six days prior to it.

My brother Doug did the same. We never imagined a life with enough money that we could get our hair cut the optimal length on the actual day of our haircuts! My how life has changed.

That is a great example of how humor got us through what could've been tough times. We never thought of our circumstances as bad, however, because we were always looking for the lighter side of life. And I want to help you do to the same...starting today I want to help you find great happiness in your everyday circumstances.

Just click the links you see in this blog and under my signature. You'll be on your way!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Why It's Not Easy Being A Psychiatrist

2005-09-23T19:22:00.000-04:00

You might think I've got it easy being a psychiatrist. But let me tell you, I don't.

You don't realize how hard it is, listening to the constant litany of complaints:

My kids don't appreciate me

My spouse doesn't love me anymore

I feel lonely and unfulfilled

My life hasn't turned out anything like I hoped

My marriage feels like a jail sentence

It's all I can do to look at my watch and say, "Gee, honey, can we talk about this later? I've really got to be going." Otherwise, I'd never get to the office on time!

Gotcha!

Now stop taking yourself so seriously today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Cardio Benefits Of Laughter...Verified!

2005-09-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

By guest writer: Greg Kuhn, Laugh Doctor Junior

I've been concerned about my weight and fitness for my entire adult life and have always been a regular exerciser. While I like to think of myself as an active person, however, the only regular exercise I get is weight lifting a few times a week. It keeps me strong, but it's not an aerobic exercise; I haven't had regular aerobic exercise for a few years.

So while I'm in very good physical shape because of my weight lifting and healthy diet, I achieve that without the benefit of regular aerobic exercise.

What I do get, however, is regular laughter. Humor has ten proven health benefits and, following the Ha Ha Ha Prescription created by my father, Dr. Clifford Kuhn, I make sure to experience daily belly laughs at work and at home. It's quite easy, actually, to cultivate relationships with people whom I find very funny and give them five or ten minutes each day to make me laugh. It's good for all parties involved.

At my work, Clint and Joe both have an ability to get me laughing very hard, producing genuine belly laughs. The net effect of one of my five minute "laugh sessions" (which usually occur very informally in my office) is a mini-vacation for both of us. I feel mentally refreshed and physically recharged; I've had my daily dose of natural humor medicine.

This comes as no surprise to me, since Dr. Kuhn has already verified that humor reduces your stress, relieves your pain, decreases your anxiety, stabilizes your mood, rests your brain, boosts your immunity, enhances your communication, and inspires your creativity. And, as an added bonus, research has verified that five minutes of hearty laughter produces the same effect upon your heart as twenty minutes of aerobic exercise.

So you can actually have a cardiovascular workout from your favorite recliner!

Those are fantastic benefits! How much would you have to pay for a pill that did all those things for you? And humor is both free and, as I've said, easy enough to cultivate regularly if you're willing to make the effort. But, just recently, I got even more dramatic physical proof that my laughter sessions are producing dynamite results.

Two weeks ago I began experiencing tightness in my chest that was recurring every evening. It turned out to be something minor and I'm fine, but at the time my family doctor set me up with a treadmill stress test to rule out heart problems. I nervously reported for my stress test.

When asked by the nurse prepping me for the test, I responded that I was a fairly active person. As she was gluing the electrodes on my chest, however, it occurred to me that (as I stated earlier) I'm not really an active person. I was pretty certain that the stress test might reveal that I am not in as good a cardiovascular shape as I imagine.

The proof would be in the pudding, so to speak - especially if I turned into pudding on the treadmill!

When the doctor discussed my test results, however, he praised my cardiovascular health. Saying I had the stamina of a conditioned athlete, he praised me for how long I had to run and how hard the machine had to push me to get my heart rate up. He told me I was in "great physical shape" and my heart was a "machine."

I couldn't help but immediately think of my daily laughter sessions with Clint and/or Joe at work. Not that I have trouble believing my father's research, but here was real, tangible evidence that Dr. Kuhn's Ha Ha Ha Prescription works! I returned to my laughter sessions with renewed vigor the next day, taking five minutes to ask my humor muses to give me some belly laughter.

Am I advocating that you not exercise and merely laugh?

No.

We all have different physical needs and I, for example, am very anal about my healthy diet. But I'm also anal about my commitment to laughter and not taking myself too seriously (while I continue to take my responsibilities seriously). And there can be no doubt that my commitment to laughter is not only providing me with emotional and spiritual benefits, but physical as well.

Daily laughter is an easy thing to enjoy. All it takes is five minutes of your day, access to some funny people or props, and your willingness. Unless you don't want to enjoy your optimal health, laughter should be a part of your daily routine.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

A Precocious Punster

2005-09-18T14:28:00.000-04:00

Humor, lightness, and fun is all around you every day. Especially from right where a great deal of your stress is originating - your family!

Case in point: my son and daughter-in-law taught my youngest grandson sign language before he could talk. Logan learned to sign important words and phrases like "eat," "down", "more", "all done", "please", and "thank you."

This spring, my son was in the back yard mowing the lawn as my daughter-in-law was putting Logan down for his nap. When Greg started the lawn mower, Logan looked up at Leigh in surprise at the sound. Leigh said, "Logan, that's daddy with the lawn mower."

Logan than looked back up at his mother and gave her the sign for "more." Pretty good word play for a one-year-old, eh?

I want you to find the humor you've been overlooking right in your own backyard, starting today. Visit my website if you want help doing it.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Little Known Similarities Between Lincoln and Kennedy

2005-09-16T20:38:00.000-04:00

Many people know about the strange similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy Jr.

Such as:

Both were shot in the head.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were shot in the presence of their wives.

The Secretary of each President warned them not to go to the theatre and to Dallas, respectively.

Both were succeeded by Southerners.

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded John F. Kennedy, was born in 1908.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names comprise fifteen letters.

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.

Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

But most people don't know that they also both wore stove-pipe hats and they both had sex with Marilyn Monroe!

Make sure to take your responsibilities seriously today...but dont take yourself seriously!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Get Lost...And Stay That Way

2005-07-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

We've all heard the famous quote of Rene Descartes, the 17th century French logician: "I think, therefore I am." But do you know the true significance of Descartes philosophy? It's not a declaration of humanity, so much as a transformation of science which can be summed up in two words: systematic doubt. I'll finish this story momentarily...

Watch a child play. See how utterly transfixed she becomes with her game. It's pure immersion; she has lost herself in the world of play.

You used to do that too when you were a kid. But you can't do that anymore, right?

Wrong.

You were born with the ability to lose yourself. You still have it. It's one of your greatest gifts because it puts you in the present moment (where all the fun is).

Legendary comedian Chris Rush told me there are three things that root you in the moment, as an adult: great sex, gunfire, and laughter. I'll add one more to his list - your decision to be in the moment. Yes, you occasionally find yourself lost in an activity, but you can actually learn to get lost as often as you decide - and, as you'll see, when you do this your success will skyrocket!

Losing yourself in the moment is so important to your health and success, in fact, that I've made it one of my newest Fun Commandments: Get Lost. It turns out that "get lost" is actually one of the nicest things I've ever been told!

Why is it so important to get lost in the moment? Because your life is currently dominated by two pressing illusions that weigh you down like anchors tied to your neck in the deep end of the pool. You've come to accept these illusions to such an extent that they dominate about 96% of your daily thoughts and focus.

What are these two horrible illusions? The future and the past.

You populate your illusions about the future with your fears, hopes, guesses, etc. But the future is a lie - a time-waster at best and an immobilizing fear at worst. The future will never actually arrive, because when it does it will be the present moment!

You place judgements on your past, labeling events failures, successes, mistakes, triumphs, etc. But the past is a lie too; the past is gone and it is a distraction at best and a paralyzing guilt-producer at worst. The past isn't real anymore.

Frightening to think you destroy so much of your time and energy focused on these two illusions, isn't it? And you do waste more time on them than you'd like, don't you? Me too.

The present moment is where all your fun is. The present moment is where all your success is found. The present moment is the only thing real in life.

That's why it's so important to cultivate the ability to get lost. And that's why it's such great news that humor is your biggest ally for getting lost. Humor helps you like nothing else because it is entirely about the present moment.

In fact, humor's ability to transfix you in the moment is one of the main reasons you are gifted with it. Humor is the universe's way of saying, "Hey, you don't have to be imprisoned by the twin illusions of the past and present! You were born with a key - humor. Use it and free yourself!"

Prior to Descartes, by the way, scientists started with a general proposition and then proceeded to find what else could be deduced from that general idea. Descartes proclaimed that the "truth" should not be stated at the beginning of the investigation, but should emerge from the process of investigation and experimentation. "I think, therefore I am" refers, then, to a process we now call the scientific method.

Next week, I'll give you much more fuel for your experimentation with getting lost. I'll share humor's role in the process and help you have fun with your research. I have a pretty good idea, though, that your results with this process will be quite grand - please share them with me.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Claim The "Catbird's Seat"

2005-07-16T07:52:00.000-04:00

Have you heard the term "sitting in the catbird's seat"? It refers to a position of great prominence or advantage. But did you know that it was coined by the late Red Barber, a longtime radio sportscaster? I'll tell you Red's funny story about how this term was acquired in a minute...

You zoom through your day, alternatively focused distractingly on your past or your future and also productively achieving your personal to-do list. You're good at this routine. Yet all around you is an untapped source of motivation so powerful, you'll feel like you just drank a Starbuck's double-espresso (with sugar).

This source of motivation is something I call the laughter symphony. And it is so beneficial to your health and success that I've created a new Fun Commandment: Conduct the Laughter Symphony.

What is the laughter symphony? Quite simply, it is the sounds of joy being abundantly produced all around you during every moment of your day. Don't restrict your imagination to thoughts of outright laughter (although you can hear that in abundance by visiting any park or playground). Joy and laughter can be heard in something as delicate as a cheerful inflection in someone's voice. And it can be seen in something as unobtrusive as a tiny grin on a beaming face.

Laughter is everywhere!

How do you conduct the laughter symphony? By listening and looking for it, everywhere and at all times. You'll hear and see so much laughter that you'll feel like the conductor of a symphony and you'll begin to notice that it does, quite often, sound like a classical composition.

Before you balk at the simplicity of my newest Fun Commandment, allow me to call attention to something which clearly illustrates the laughter symphony's immense value to you. The sitcom staple, the laugh track. Laugh tracks are usually annoying at best, but downright insulting at worst. So why do the studios continue to use them?

Because they work. They make us think the shows we're watching are funny.

Laugh tracks work because they tap into a preconditioned psychological trigger you share with all other humans - the trigger of taking behavior cues from the actions of others.

You're not stupid or simple-minded, but rest assured this trigger has a deep subconscious effect on you just like all of us. As humans, we are all susceptible and that's why television executives continue to insult our intelligence with laugh tracks.

But think about the ramifications of what I've just shared. You have a deep, subconscious trigger of following suite with the actions of those around you. You can use this trigger to your advantage any time you with. Like a finely tuned judo master, you will use the forces of nature in your favor.

What if you practiced my Fun Commandment, Conduct the Laughter Symphony? What if you trained your ear to hear, and your eye to see, the incredible variety of laughter surrounding you today? What if the laughter symphony becomes your personal laugh track?

I know what will happen to you because that's exactly what I've taught hundreds of my patients and clients to do.

You will smile 84% more often. You will laugh 63% more regularly. You will experience a 37% reduction in physical pain. And your energy level will rise by a whopping 58%! These are averages, mind you. You may do much better!

By the way, Red Barber says he got his famous term from a poker game. His opponent kept raising the bet and Red kept answering (even though he only had a pair of eights). When his opponent's winning hand was revealed, and Red lost the pot, the man said to Red, "Thanks for all those raises. From the start I was sitting in the catbird's seat."

Red Barber wrote, years later in The Saturday Review, "Inasmuch as I had paid for the expression, I began to use it."

Now you'll be in the catbird's seat as you conduct the laughter symphony this week. Please write me and tell my how your symphony performed!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Mark Your Calendar For This FREE, Once-In-A-Lifetime Event!

2005-06-27T15:15:00.000-04:00

Mark your calendar now and clear your schedule; you have a front row seat to a spectacle which hasn't happened in at least 5,000 years and won't happen again for another 60,000! I'll tell you all about it in a moment...

You set down your Michael Crichton novel, turn out your bedside lamp, and lay your head on your pillow...but you can't fall asleep. Why not? You're haunted by the "ghosts" of all the things you need to do, but have been putting off.

Procrastination, what a killer! We've all been there.

You've been meaning to write a thank you note to Aunt Beverly for the box of delicious Montgomery Inn ribs she sent you a week ago. That list of schools you need to add to next year's college fair database has been sitting on your desk at work for a few weeks. Heck, you've been seeing that your bathtub needs to be cleaned for a month now!

Procrastination weighs you down and hogties your humor nature so quickly that I've created a Fun Commandment aimed specifically at ridding yourself of it: Eat Your Brussel Sprouts First. That's right; when you have an unpleasant task I want you to get in the habit of doing it first and getting it out of your way.

Putting things off is something reserved only for unpleasant duties. You don't put off a wonderful, anticipated activity for long do you? A warm, relaxing shower at the end of a long day, for example. You put off the things you perceive as not fun, not enjoyable, or not rewarding enough.

Eating your brussel sprouts first, however, is the antidote to procrastination. You know how great it feels to finally be free of that thing you've "been meaning to do." Imagine feeling that exuberant freedom anytime you choose - just practice this Fun Commandment!

Case in point: I love public speaking but every time I perform there is a small gnawing fear deep inside me that I won't be successful. At my first few engagements, years ago, I just dealt with that fear and went on stage - to mixed results. What I learned to do, however, is to eat my brussel sprouts first - I confront my fear by meeting people in the crowd as soon as I arrive at the speaking engagement.

Perhaps I've spoken with you under these circumstances. You just thought I was a nice guy; you didn't know I was eating my brussel sprouts. But your warm handshake, bright smile, and kind words of greeting were just what I needed to know that I was welcome at your event!

And then, I trust, I was free give you an outstanding presentation on humor, health, and success.

By the way, on August 1st, Mars will get progressively bigger and brighter as it rises in the east around 10 PM. On August 27th, Mars will be closer to the Earth than it has ever been in recorded history and, certainly, closer than any relative you'll meet will ever see. Mars will be only 35 million miles away and will be the second brightest object in the night sky (after our own moon). Cool, huh?

So don't put anything off that might interfere with your Mars watching! Banish procrastination -I want you to experience freedom today to use and enjoy your humor nature the way I have. Please write me a note and let me know how eating your brussel sprouts first impacts your life this week.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Maintain Control Of Your Attitude...Even During A Mutiny

2005-06-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

It would've been hard to blame Captain William Bligh for having a bad attitude. Bligh was the Captain of the H.M.S. Bounty and was famously mutinied by his crew. But Captain Bligh was resilient enough to make me think he must've used the amazing power of humor to full effect. I'll explain why in a moment...

Your attitude is nothing to take for granted. I know because I used to take mine for granted!

Imagine me as a 25 year old medical intern (circa 1967) and stuck on an insane emergency room rotation: 36 hours on and 12 hours off. I was losing my mind from lack of sleep, job pressure, and not being home to help my young wife take care of my screaming infant son, Greg.

"I don't know if I can make this work," I complained to my mentor one evening over yet another cup of bad, break room coffee. "I hate this job."

My mentor's response was like a slap to my face. "Well, Cliff, how is that attitude working for you? Are you enjoying it?"

"What do you mean?", I shot back, "Look at my life! Are you implying that I'm responsible for my frustration?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," my mentor calmly replied at he refilled his coffee cup, "You are."

I wish I could tell you that I began to take responsibility for my attitude from that point. In fact, what happened is that I quickly got a new mentor. I wasn't ready to accept responsibility for my attitudes until I fully understood the amazing power of humor's natural medicine almost 25 years later.

You, too, may be hesitant to accept control of your attitudes. You may occasionally feel more comfortable playing the role of the victim, pretending that your attitudes are an uncontrollable byproduct of your environment and circumstances. The good news is...nothing could be further from the truth.

You have full control over your attitudes. This is great news; you are not a victim! And your humor nature will help you take control of them in such grand style that you may never be unhappy again.

How do you take control of your attitude? It's easy to talk about, but how do you do it? The solution is simple and it's one of my newest Fun Commandments: Become a Humor Propmaster.

Would a director stage a theatrical production without props? Of course not. A good propmaster inspires the audience with her product, adding vibrancy and realism to what would be dull and bland. Why would you stage your day with props? Without humor props, you have something much worse than a bland production, you have deadly seriousness and stress.

A humor prop is anything which brings a smile, banishes your seriousness, lightens your mood, or reminds you to take yourself lightly. If you make a commitment to become a humor propmaster and surround yourself with humor props, you will find yourself with fewer negative attitudes. Because humor props are your reminders to take yourself less seriously.

Do "serious," "somber," and "heavy" sound like the recipe for success in life? Compared to "creative," "resilient," and "light"? Not by a long shot. You can have the later list today when you begin your collection of humor props.

Some of my favorite humor props include fun or funny calendars, socks, ties, underwear, emails, and cartoons. And, of course, a clown nose. I don't wear my clown nose all the time, but it's always in my pocket, reminding me to quit taking slow traffic, jammed copy machines, and credit card bills so seriously.

And this brings me to the best part about your amazingly powerful collection of humor props. They don't need to be funny, expensive, or even visible to anyone else. You only need your humor prop to be available to you, reminding you to lighten up and get back on your road to success through fun and humor.

Captain Bligh, by the way, was not finished with humiliation after his crew mutinied on the H.M.S. Bounty. Oh no, believe it or not, Bligh's new crew mutinied against him just ten years later and he was mutinied against while governor of New South Wales, Australia. After that third mutiny, don't you think he had to muse, "Gee, I wonder if I'm the problem?"

I hope your humor props don't need to steer you through such an attitude wrecker as a third mutiny. Until next week, please let me know what your favorite humor props are.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Use Your Brain Now...Before It's Too Late

2005-06-13T23:18:00.000-04:00

Here's something else you have no control over: you are issued a hundred billion (or so) brain cells at birth and, unlike the other cells in your body, they are never renewed. That is all you get. And you lose, on average, 500 of them an hour. So if you've got anything to think about, I suggest you get to it right away. I'll give you the rest of the story shortly...

Last week I promised to tell you how to use humor to help you accept the things you can't change. People are surprised by how much humor you find in accepting the things you cannot change. Dealing with things you can't change is usually associated with extreme frustration and, why not?

You don't naturally smile when that BMW cuts you off on I-65 and you're already five minutes late to your appointment. Your first reaction when your daughter sneaks out her bedroom window to attend a forbidden party isn't to smile really wide. What's worse than dealing with other people's unwanted or disappointing actions or attitudes, after all?

But it's in dealing with those attitudes that your hidden humor ally is found. It's subtle, but once you catch on to it, you'll find yourself that much closer to my recommended 30 minutes a day of fun.

What frustrates you about the BMW driver's attitude or your daughter's actions? Not being in control of them, right? You want to be in control, and you're not! Isn't that why we say the things we've let go of have "claw marks all over them"?

But have you ever thought of what you're actually letting go of? Lean in really close because I'm going to whisper an amazing secret to you.

You think you're letting go of your control over that rude BMW driver's attitude or your teenage daughter's actions...but you're not! You're only letting go of the illusion that you have control because you never actually had control over those things anyway - you just thought you did!

Okay, stand back from your monitor. I'm about to start speaking in a normal volume again.

Let's make this very clear. You're not letting go of control over the things you can't change, you're only letting go of the illusion that you have control. You can build an entire sitcom about such misunderstandings, folks.

The more you practice letting go of the things over which you have no control, the more gentle humor you will find in your illusions of control.

Watching a child reach up to grab the object appearing "right before her eyes" during a 3-D movie will make you laugh gently because it's sweet and cute. Why is your trying to grab control of your illusion any less humorous (and any less sweet and cute)? Answer: it's not.

If you give yourself permission to laugh with yourself (another of my Fun Commandments), you will soon find loads of fun and humor in your illusions of control. And, trust me, that humor makes it easier to let go of the things you cannot change.

The more you give yourself permission to find humor in your illusions of control, the more you are practicing accepting the things you cannot change. Because finding humor in accepting the things you cannot change helps you accept them much more readily. And accepting the things you can't control, in return, helps you find the humor in them. It's a wonderful, reciprocal relationship!

Don't be alarmed, by the way, about your brain. Although your brain cells are designed to last as long as you do, their individual components are constantly renewed. So no part of your brain cells are ever likely to be more than a month old. Knowing that your brain is like a freshly brewed pot of coffee should help you accept the fact that your brain cells don't ever replace themselves.

Until next week, let me know what humor you're able to find as you accept the things you can't change!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Help A Woman...Without Ruining Your Day

2005-06-07T00:17:00.000-04:00

Two monks approach a stream swollen from a recent heavy rain. They encounter a beautiful young woman unable to cross. Although they have taken a vow of silence and abstinence regarding women, the older monk offers to carry the young woman across the stream on his back.

A few miles down the road the younger monk angrily asks, "Why did you break your vow and carry that woman across the stream?" I'll share the older monks interesting reply momentarily...

Do you ever feel angry, frustrated, or worried? Do you occasionally boil at the antics of bad drivers? Do you sometimes seethe over the ineptness of coworkers? Do you intermittently grind your teeth over your spouse's annoying habits? Do you frequently worry how you're going to make ends meet?

Of course you do. You're human. If you're like most, you feel that way more often than you'd like.

I have a solution for these feelings that works 100% of the time you use it. This solution is completely free and you already possess it in abundance. In fact, you were born with this solution - you've just forgotten to apply it as you've become an adult.

The solution is one of my newest Fun Commandments - Accept the Things You Cannot Change. And you already possess the abundant humor nature necessary to accept anything life throws at you. Humor, as you will find, is as necessary for acceptance as water is for coffee because it keeps you flexible and buoyant.

But before I get into how to use humor to accept the things you cannot change, let's briefly discuss acceptance. Acceptance is often maligned and misunderstood because people think it means endorsement or approval. Nothing could be further from the truth; acceptance simply means that you're not going to carry a burden of resentment, fear, worry, or anger. You are moving on with your life.

There are only three things in life, after all, that you can control:

Your ideas

Your attitudes

Your actions

For every single thing falling outside those three areas, you have only two choices: 1. Try to control/influence it or 2. Accept it and move on.

Think back to the last time you were angry or frustrated. It involved something outside of your ideas, attitudes, and actions, didn't it? Trying to control something outside these three areas is the source of all your worry, fear, anger, and frustration.

Simple...but not easy to remember, right? So, let's create an action plan for practicing my newest Fun Commandment, Accept the Things You Cannot Change.

As you encounter something that you cannot control today, make a choice. You will either try to influence it or accept the way it is and move on. If you are successful at influencing it, great! If you are unsuccessful at influencing it, accept it and move on. Then simply repeat this process throughout the day as often as you can remember! (More on how to help yourself remember later...)

For example, you're in the grocery store and you reach the entrance of an isle simultaneously with another shopper. Rather than barge ahead, you smile and offer this shopper the right of way. Your fellow shopper, however, doesn't acknowledge your kindness and barges ahead with a scowl.

You have two choices: 1. Accept the mood of your fellow shopper, let it go, and move on with your day or 2. Approach your fellow shopper with more kindness in an attempt to influence his mood. If you choose choice number two and are unsuccessful, remember to accept that and move on. The key is to really let it go because if you don't you will burden yourself by letting that shopper take up space in your head - rent free!

And you can't afford to have your humor nature weighed down by rent-free squatters who sap your spiritual and physical energy and resilience. You want your humor nature to fly free and unfettered today. You have too much success awaiting you today to be detoured by such burdens!

Let's finish the story about the two monks. The older monk's wise reply is, "I only carried her across the stream; you're still carrying her." Get the message? Let it go! Accept it and move on.

Next week I'll give you some amazing tips to help you remember to accept the things you cannot change. You'll use your humor nature and have lots of fun. But, in the meantime, practice your action plan and share your results with me!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Make Mistakes

2005-06-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

Have you ever told someone they “eat like a bird”? You meant that they picked at their food and didn’t eat very much. (I’ve been called a “bird brain”, but that’s another matter entirely) Are you aware, however, what a big mistake it is to make this comparison? I’ll explain why in a moment…

Last week we discussed the importance of welcoming your mistakes. Sweeping your mistakes under the rug fools no one but you. You reinforce the horribly incorrect paradigm that you are wrong to make mistakes - that you shouldn’t make them. You already know that you are perfectly imperfect; you were born to make mistakes. So why beat yourself up over something you are meant to do?

Better to learn to use your innate inclination to make mistakes. Take those lemons and make lemonade.

Do you ever wish you’d stop making mistakes? Why? Not making mistakes would make you a robot. Your ability to make mistakes makes you human; it gives you free will because you have the power to do things “wrong.”

I don’t know about you, but I love my free will and my humanity. Not that you actually have this choice, but you’d have to trade your free will to attain mistake-free living. I wouldn’t exchange my life of unlimited possibility and opportunity for cookie-cutter perfection.

So how do you stop beating yourself up for your mistakes and start welcoming them? How do you develop a lasting paradigm which equates making mistakes with living a full and adventurous life? How do you free yourself from the bondage of fearing your mistakes and emulate the great achievers of humankind, who welcome their mistakes with gusto?

Great questions! Here are three simple, yet powerful, actions steps to get you started:

Learn to regard your mistakes as tangible assets. What wonderful opportunities to grow and change await you with your first mistake today! Wait for that first mistake with baited breath and welcome it with enthusiasm because it holds a golden kernel of victory – a message for a better life!

Don’t try to hide your mistakes. You are going to notice some changes accompanying your new attitude toward your mistakes. As you waste less energy trying to hide them as they occur, you have more energy for learning from your experiences!

Be like Babe Ruth and swing for the fences. Babe Ruth struck out twice as often as he hit home runs, but so what? People remember his homers. Use your increased energy level to try new spontaneous and creative things. You will make more mistakes as you take more risks, but so what? People will remember your success (and admire your courage).

One more thing: an important side benefit of welcoming your mistakes is that they are entertaining, which adds to your thirty minutes of fun today. Remember Carol Burnett’s definition of comedy is “tragedy plus time.” While there is nothing funny about pain and disappointment, you can always find humor in your unrealistic expectations of mistake-free perfectionism.

You can shake your head and gently laugh with yourself, instead of beating yourself up, when you make your mistakes today!

The more you are able to laugh with yourself about your mistakes, the more you will treat them lightly enough to quickly learn from them. And, of course, the more you are able to quickly learn from your mistakes, the more you’ll be able to take them lightly enough to be entertained by them. Before long, you’ll be confident enough to join me in making mistakes on purpose – just for the entertainment value!

And about those birds… Birds eat a tremendous amount each day, much more than you and me. Adult birds eat one quarter to one half their body weight each day. And, because their metabolism is even higher, baby birds usually eat their body weight worth of food each day! Who knew?

But, of course, if you’ve made the mistake of telling a picky eater that she eats like a bird, who cares? Your mistake was humorous and educational at the same time! Now you know the real story behind “eating like a bird.”

Soon you’ll be treating all your mistakes this lightly and, when that happens, you won’t be eating like a bird -you’ll be soaring like one!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Get To Cloud Nine

2005-05-23T21:56:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard the expression, "I'm on cloud nine"? To be on cloud nine means to not have a worry in the world and I will show you how to achieve that state, right now, today. And I'll share with you the origin of this unusual expression. But first...

If you want to get to cloud nine, you'll first need to learn about one of my most important Fun Commandments - Welcoming Your Mistakes. Welcoming your mistakes is a vital skill because fearing mistakes is one of the main reasons you worry, procrastinate, and get too serious. And, of course, another reason to learn to welcome your mistakes is that you can count on continuing to make them for a long, long time.

At least I hope you do. I hope you make some whoppers! Let me explain why...

Every action you take invokes the risk of making a mistake. Everything involves risk and, in fact, refusing to risk is refusing to live. In fact, the only way to avoid risk is to become completely immobilized - and, ironically, that would be the biggest risk of all!

So is it any wonder that you learn to fear your mistakes? You don't like the pain and discomfort they cause. You don't like people to consider you incompetent or poorly prepared. Mainly, though, your pride is on the line because you don't like surrendering your delusions of perfectionism.

These reasons are why welcoming your mistakes can take practice, but it's also why learning to do it has such a huge payoff. You see, when you welcome your mistakes you are actually embracing parts of yourself you've fought against for years. You are, literally and quite accurately, boldly proclaiming that you are perfect - warts and all!

What will you find when you begin welcoming your mistakes?

Your mistakes are, paradoxically, your greatest assets! Because they are your best teachers. Let me explain:

You don't usually like to change, even when you know change is needed.

Pain is almost always the motivator that causes you to finally make a needed change.

Your mistakes cause you pain.

Thus, your mistakes open your mind and force you to consider the possibility of change.

Your ability to make mistakes is like having a full-time life coach living within you. You already know that the results of making a needed, positive change are wonderful; don't you often look back with gratitude on certain painful or uncomfortable circumstances that forced you to change? But now, you love the results!

Why wait to be grateful in retrospect? Get on cloud nine by welcoming your mistakes, right here and right now! Embrace them. Love and cherish your mistakes! Heck, when I want a chuckle, I even make mistakes on purpose.

By the way, clouds were named by an English pharmacist named Luke Howard, the father of modern meteorology. You're familiar with his names for clouds like cumulus, cirrus, nimbus, etc. In 1896, Howard published his first edition of the International Cloud Atlas, which actually divided clouds into ten basic types. The cushioniest, billowy, and plumpest cloud in the atlas was the cumulonimbus - which just happened to be cloud number nine. Hence the phrase to "be on cloud nine."

You're headed for cloud number nine right now because you're starting to welcome your mistakes. And next week I'll assist you further by revealing some foolproof strategies to help you welcome your mistakes even more.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Be As Happy As A Monkey

2005-05-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

You flooded our inbox after last week's blog entry, sending me lots of evidence that bananas are the perfect food. I now know that bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that your body converts into serotonin. (Serotonin is known to help you relax, improve your mood, and generally make you feel happy) And I learned that the FDA just allowed the banana industry to officially claim a reduction in your risk of high blood pressure and stroke. But I'll share the coolest banana tidbit I learned in a moment...

Let's get back to one thing I know is perfect...you. Last week I told you that by laughing with yourself (one of my favorite Fun Commandments), you reinforce the notion that you are perfect just as you are. Warts and all! In fact, laughing with yourself confirms that your perfection includes your contradictions and foibles.

But how do you laugh with yourself?

Step One - Accept Your Powerlessness

The key to this step is the concept of acceptance, perhaps the most misunderstood word in the English language. Acceptance doesn't mean approval or endorsement, it merely means acknowledging things as they are. Perfectionism, the deadly opposite of perfection, is rigid and unyielding, so acknowledging the things that are beyond your power to control sets you free!

Step Two - Start Identifying Those Things over Which You Have No Control

This is a great way to practice laughing with yourself; once you've got a handle on the things over which you have no control, you can focus on the things over which you do. Remember that, although you may be a victim of circumstance, you are always a master of response! Step Two frees you from your unrealistic expectations and focuses your attention on choices that will increase your personal effectiveness.

Step Three - Put It All in Perspective

Develop the habit of frequently asking yourself, "How important will this be 100 years from now?" Obviously, some things will pass that litmus test, but you'll be amazed that almost everything that's keeping you serious will be immaterial 100 years from now! This perspective helps you lighten up and you can't help but laugh with yourself when you catch yourself getting stressed over something inconsequential.

Step Four - Put Yourself in the Joke

Tell gentle jokes on yourself; adapt a joke or personal experience and make yourself the punch line. Remember that Ryan Seacrest (the host of American Idol) recently said he knew he had made it big in Hollywood when, "I became a regular punch line in Jay Leno's monologue." The more you tell these stories, the easier it becomes to laugh with yourself.

Put these four steps into action today. It takes practice to focus on laughing with, not at, yourself. But the results are well worth it!

You'll soon find it difficult to take yourself too seriously. My research has shown that people who love and accept themselves on a deep level are also especially adept at laughing with, but not at, themselves. Coincidence? No way!

The good news is that, just as accepting/loving yourself helps you laugh with yourself, laughing with yourself perpetuates and accelerates accepting/loving yourself. It's a wonderful snowball effect. And we can all use more self-acceptance!

By the way, I also learned that a banana can shine your shoes; rub your leather shoes with the inside of the peel, let dry, and buff to a gleaming luster. But the coolest thing is that bananas sooth mosquito bites! If you rub the affected skin with the inside of the peel, you'll be amazed at the reduction of swelling and irritation.

No wonder monkeys are so happy!

And you'll be happy too, as you learn to laugh (and love) with yourself more than you've ever experienced. Please write and share your laughter with me.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

You're More Perfect Than A Banana

2005-05-08T21:33:00.000-04:00

Bananas are often called the perfect food. They're healthy, delicious, and (best of all) because of their rind you never have to worry about who was touching it. But did you ever notice that bananas are green when they arrived at your grocery? Logic would dictate that bananas are picked green so they can ripen en route to your store, but that is incorrect. I'll tell you why in a moment...

Bananas may or may not be perfect, but you definitely are. Before you doubt me, do you know the difference between perfection and perfectionism? Here it is in a nutshell: perfection is what you are (warts and all) while perfectionism is what you think you ought to be.

Perfection is wonderful. Perfection is vital, robust, and lots of fun. Perfection is full of surprises because it includes inconsistencies, contradictions, and imperfection. When you allow yourself to experience your perfection, you are confidently aware of your abundance of resources because you possess everything necessary to get the job done.

Perfectionism, however, is no fun at all. Perfectionism is deadly serious, it is a bottomless pit that excludes imperfections and contradictions. When you are lulled by the lie of perfectionism, you are desperately aware that you are lacking the resources necessary to get the job done.

So how do you stop perfectionism and accept your perfect self?

Look to my Fun Commandment, Laugh With Yourself. The best antidote to perfectionism is the willingness to laugh with yourself because your humor nature stamps out perfectionism, while reinforcing your perfection. And laughing with yourself is an effective way to call your humor nature into frequent action.

Of course, you must remember that laughing with yourself does not mean you should humiliate or demean yourself. Willingness to laugh with yourself is the very opposite of self denigration because it is a way of affirming that you are worthy of respect and consideration. Not in spite of, but because of your inconsistencies and contradictions.

Laughing with yourself is a statement that your imperfections are a valuable part of your perfection.

And, by the way, bananas are not picked green so they can ripen on the way to your store. They are picked green because they become inedible if allowed to ripen on the stalk. You, however, are perfect no matter how far along you are in the ripening process!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"it all starts with a SMILE"

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Change Yourself In Any Way You Desire

2005-05-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

"Dr. Kuhn," she said, "I've been looking forward to talking with you."

I was attending an early Kentucky Derby event and the hostess was someone I've know for a few years. "I've been having problems with taking myself way too seriously the past couple weeks," she elaborated.

"You have my book, The Fun Factor, right," I asked her.

"Yes," came her reply.

I continued, "And you've applied my HA HA HA Prescription to all areas of your life, right? Just as I prescribe?"

"Yes, and I've had great success with it," she beamed. "My husband and I are rarely fighting anymore and my work is going great! It's just been these last two weeks...I find myself feeling and acting so stressed out. I don't know what to do."

"Have you been in charge of organizing this event?" I asked.

"Yes," came her reply.

"Then I think I know exactly why you've been experiencing those problems," I told her. "And I have some great news for you..."

Experiencing frustration when you relapse against positive changes you've made is very common. You have undoubtedly made some profound changes in your life based on my Fun Factor prescription. You have told me about how The Fun Factor has helped you with weight loss, family reconciliation, returning to your job, stopping smoking, being a parent, and many other wonderful accomplishments.

Yet, for all the positive changes your focus on fun and humor bring, you still occasionally get bitten by the seriousness bug. And it screws up your life a little bit.

To that end, I have some very interesting information to share with you this week. The following five stages of change were developed by a University of Rhode Island psychology professor named James Prochaska. These five stages have become very influential because they've helped many, many people progress towards a life without harmful, destructive habits.

I trust they will be helpful to you also. Of course, I want you to read through them with an eye toward gauging how far you've progressed in jettisoning seriousness and incorporating fun, but they work just as well to measure any positive change you want to make. I've also included typical statements you might hear yourself making when you are in each stage, to further assist you in identifying your current status.

Dr. James Prochaska's Five Stages of Change (As Applied to Your Seriousness)

Stage One: Precontemplation. In this stage, you're thinking you'll never change. You're still in denial about your seriousness. A typical statements from this stage include "It's not really that bad," or "I can change anytime I want, I just don't want to right now."

Stage Two: Contemplation. In this stage you are aware of your seriousness and you're going to replace it with fun someday. You're full of good intentions. A typical statement from this stage would be, "I know I need to take myself less seriously and I plan on doing it."

Stage Three: Preparation. In this stage you are making definite plans to stop taking yourself so seriously. As an aside, don't stop here! Research indicates that over 85% of people needing to make health-related changes never even make it to Step Three or beyond. Typical statements from this stage are, "This is the year that I'm going to stop being so serious," or "Starting next month I'm going to start taking myself less seriously."

Stage Four: Action. In Stage Four you are actually using fun to guide and motivate you rather than seriousness and fear. As an aside, make sure you dive right in to The Fun Factor! Feeling quick, positive differences in your life makes it much easier to graduate to the final stage. Typical statements from someone in Stage Four include "I'm actually doing this," and "I feel really good about using fun - it's making a difference!"

Stage Five. Maintenance. In this stage you've achieved the opportunity to use fun forever because you've created new mental pathways in your brain, retraining it. (See last week's Fun Times for more on this) But be aware that the old mental pathways of seriousness you've abandoned do not disappear! It is easy to fall back on old, bad habits of seriousness when you're stressed - we call this a relapse. A typical statement from this stage is "Fun is part of my life now and I really feel lousy when I get serious."

Here are my doctor's orders after you've identified which stage of change you're in:

If you identify yourself in Stages One, Two, or Three in regard to replacing your seriousness with fun, keep reading The Fun Times and my website articles until you're ready for Stage Four.

If you identify yourself in Stage Four, make sure you have my Fun Factor prescription and are applying it in all areas of your life. Feeling the incredible difference fun makes is vital to reaching Stage Five.

If you identify yourself in Stage Five, continue to use The Fun Factor and do not beat yourself up for your occasional relapse into seriousness. As you now know, your setbacks are not defeats - they are merely reminders that we need to keep our focus on fun today.

And that is exactly what I shared with my hostess that night. I was certain that she knew how to have fun, but the stress she had fallen into while planning this Derby event had triggered a relapse of seriousness.

Realizing this, she made a point to redouble her efforts to use fun to motivate and guide her. And you can do this too; don't get down on yourself if you fall "off the wagon" because all you're doing is reverting to old habits in times of stress. Just remember why you made your change, get back on your horse, and pick right back up with your new, healthy habit!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Use Fun To Retrain Your Brain

2005-04-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

There is a long standing myth that your brain is "hardwired" at an early age and then very difficult to change. The good news is that this myth is not true; your brain retains its ability to learn, to be trained, throughout your life. I'll explain how you can take full advantage of this in a moment...

Dr. Michael Merzenich, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, has studied a phenomena that has long puzzled us. If we can change, why don't we? Just like a rat who has maneuvered a maze 100 times, you have habits that have driven changes into your brain. Even when those habits are not fulfilling, it is still very difficult for the average person to change them.

Make no mistake, when you learn a skill it really does change, or distort, your brain. Dr. Merzenich says that a highly skilled specialist, such as a surgeon or musician, has pathways in their brain that show up on an MRI while they are performing. A trumpet player, for example, has enlarged representations in their brains for the areas that control their lips, breathing, and fingers.

You, too, have thousands of pathways you've carved into your brain to accommodate the tasks you've formed into habits. These habits can range from beneficial ones, such as exercising daily, to ruinous ones, such as smoking. Can you guess what habit of yours, however, about which I am most concerned?

I'll give you three guesses. And the first two don't count.

Of course, I am most concerned about the pathways you've created for your seriousness. You can easily identify them. Any time you feel stressed and unhappy you're following an ingrained path of seriousness that you created in your brain through years of repetition.

Don't feel bad; you're not alone. You're brain's pathways to seriousness were forged, just like mine, by well-intentioned parents, teachers, and other authority figures. These authority figures were only passing along what they had been taught - that becoming an adult means learning to get serious.

Your authority figures were only half-correct; becoming an adult means learning to take your responsibilities seriously. But not yourself! Taking yourself seriously leads to high levels of stress. And stress is not only responsible for 80% of your doctor's visits, but it is also the foundation for almost every physical ailment or condition that bothers you.

You already know that seriousness caused stress and that stress is killing you. So how can you change that? How can you escape the permanent quest for happiness that you never quite achieve? How can you return to the life of resiliency, vitality, health, and energy that you knew so well as a child?

Dr. Merzenich offers a solution for us that I endorse wholeheartedly: we must continue learning. As children, we are constantly involved in behavior-based learning, but somewhere as an adult we begin to trade being active for learning. This universal tendency to stop active learning is what creates the myth that our brains are hardwired as a child and then difficult to change later.

It's not difficult to change our behaviors and habits as we're older, we just don't do it! Dr. Merzenich recommends studying a new foreign language or learning to play a new musical instrument each year, just to continue building the neural pathways as in our childhood. I don't disagree, but first I want you to immerse yourself in The Fun Factor and build new pathways of fun, happiness, health, and vitality to replace your pathways of seriousness.

Like musicians, you'll soon have new enlarged and distorted areas of your brain. Except the areas will be those associated with happiness, joy, and freedom - even under your toughest circumstances!

Next week I will tell you about some amazing research that changed the way people with life-threatening illnesses are treated. And I'll also tell you why reading this blog each and every week is so important for your health and happiness.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Even Zombies Can Learn to Have Fun

2005-04-10T20:01:00.000-04:00

I just spent a week with 20,000 zombies. Not literally, of course. But my family and I watched people shuffle around like dulled, mindless drones all week. I was shocked to encounter them and you'll be shocked too, when I reveal where we were last week...

My Dad, Dr. Kuhn, and I acknowledge that many things in life are not inherently fun. Paying your utilities bill, doing your laundry, burying your beloved pet dog, packing for a move, or changing your car's oil are all examples of tasks which are not only "un-fun," but which you might even dread. Nobody gets out of bed thinking, "I hope I discover a leaky pipe today!" Yet, because we are adults, we must deal with these "un-fun" responsibilities.

You have your own personal list of "un-fun" bugaboos. These "un-fun" responsibilities constitute, like it or not, a great portion of your adult life. Your personal list is precisely the reason The Fun Factor is your primary tool for your health and success, because The Fun Factor reminds you to turn those lemons into lemonade.

What is adulthood for most, other than a never-ending chain of serious, stressful responsibilities that we randomly relieve and reward with brief intervals of sanctioned recreation? Unfortunately, our efforts at recreation do not work - as I'll reveal in a moment!

Children, however, naturally search for fun in everything they do. And that continual search fills them with an otherworldly level of energy and optimism. That search also allows them to find fun in whatever they are doing; children don't wait for the attainment of some goal or objective to have fun.

Are you making the same deadly mistake that almost every adult makes? Are you accepting the "fact" that adulthood means less energy, poorer health, lowered vitality, and decreased resiliency? Why? Who told you that boundless energy, incredible optimism, superb health, and amazing resiliency are only for children? And, more importantly, why do you believe it?

At some point you did start to believe that lie! At some point you stopped looking for fun in all your activities and started waiting for your fun and happiness as the reward for completing them. A reward, unfortunately, that never arrives.

The essence of The Fun Factor is that your fun is always found right here and right now! I know you aren't interested in playing the same games you enjoyed as a child, but you must reacquaint yourself with your childlike willingness to have your fun where you find it because I am 100% certain that there will be utility bills, dirty laundry, a beloved pet to grief, a move to make, and oil to change tomorrow! And if you're waiting for your fun and happiness to arrive as your reward for finishing those tasks, then you only have more stress, more disease, less vitality, and diminished resilience ahead.

Why am I so certain about your fate? Allow me to reveal where I saw the 20,000 zombies last week -- Walt Disney World! Shockingly, amid a veritable fantasyland of pure, unadulterated fun, I will conservatively estimate that 92% of all the adults (non-employees, that is) I encountered at Disney World were unsmiling and unhappy.

"But," you're saying, "paying $5 for a hot dog, shepherding whiny children, and waiting in line 54 minutes for a 3 minute ride are not fun!" You're right, those things are not inherently "fun." But, like paying your bills and doing your laundry, those responsibilities comprise a great portion of your day at Disney World. And if you can't have fun at Disney World then what is it like when you tackle your "un-fun" responsibilities at home and the office?

I assume you're not at Disney World as you read this. Ask yourself, this moment, "Am I having fun right now?" If you answer "no," what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue to put off your fun and continue your descent into stress, pressure, poor health, and lower energy?

Or will you recommit yourself to find your fun amid your "chores" and responsibilities? Will you reclaim your birthright of health, vigor, stamina, and resilience?

Today you escape your fate as one of the 20,000 zombies and you don't have to do it alone. Allow Dr. Kuhn, The Fun Factor, and me to help you remember and rediscover a world where life's little irritations are no longer pebbles in your shoes. Discover the fun, health, and happiness that awaits you this very moment!

Greg Kuhn
The Laugh Doctor Junior

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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How To Avoid Asking The "Wrong Question"

2005-03-28T06:49:00.000-05:00

Have you heard someone say that whether your bellybutton is an "innie" or an "outie" is determined by how a doctor ties off your umbilical cord? That's a myth started by author Ian Flemming. Flemming's famous spy, James Bond, muses about the special techniques practiced by French doctors which give French women perfect navels. I'll correct this myth momentarily...

Quite often, at a public gathering, someone approaches me with a variation of this query: "Doc, I'm trying to (insert a health or success goal here), but it's not working. What do I need to do differently?" I almost always respond the same way: "Boy, are you asking the WRONG question!" I'll reveal the right question shortly.

Focusing on what you "do" is a normal and common method of self-improvement. Unfortunately, that focus is the reason you are often, at best, not as effective as you'd like and are, at worst, spinning your wheels. If you're not careful, focusing on what to do differently, even with the best directions to guide your new actions, can be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

Forget about being funny!

The Fun Factor teaches extensively about Humor Actions, or Humor Activity. Humor Actions are where the rubber hits the road, where you physically manifest your humor skills. My patients have found that The Fun Factor's Humor Actions alleviate physical pain, overcome depression, motivate another round of challenging therapy, and inspire hope to boldly face the day with optimism!

My nonmedical clients find that the Humor Actions they learn from The Fun Factor guide loving family reconciliation, create physical energy that makes coffee unnecessary, lead to self-confidence that elicits admiring whispers and second looks, and inspire creativity and performance that open economic doors of prosperity. This is exciting stuff! Exciting enough to lead people to ask me at parties, "Doc, what should I be doing differently?"

But that is the wrong question!

What is the right question?

As wonderful as it would be to jump right in to building a glorious mansion by installing the cool, fancy, and expensive "extras," you know that you must first build your mansion's foundation. It is just as tempting to jump in and start to practice Humor Actions. After all, you want to experience those benefits NOW! But if you start with Humor Actions, you are working the process backwards.

You must start with Humor Attitude. You must begin your journey toward incredible health, happiness, and success by retraining your brain, by creating new beliefs. Our "get it done yesterday" society trains us to look for shortcuts. All successful people know, however, that your attitude is so much more important than your actions.

That's why Abraham Lincoln famously said, "If you gave me four hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first three sharpening the ax." That's why the right question to ask isn't, "Doc, what do I need to DO differently?", but "Doc, what do I need to BELIEVE differently?" Focus on your Humor Attitudes today, before you try even one Humor Activity!

By the way, it doesn't matter what the doctor does to a baby's umbilical cord. After a week or so, the part of the cord that remains attached to the newborn shrivels up and falls off. Whether the bellybutton will be an "innie" or an "outie" is randomly determined.

It matters greatly, however, whether you choose to focus on your attitude or your actions. There is nothing random about success; create a great Humor Attitude before employing proven Humor Actions. Rely upon The Fun Factor's focus on Humor Attitude to set a foundation upon which you'll build your mansion!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Be Happy Right Now...By Listening Very Carefully To Me

2005-03-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our window today." Dale Carnegie, the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People and a successful person by any measure, said that. You know how true his words are, but I need to correct one thing he said. I'll explain shortly...

What are you waiting for? What is your excuse for not being happy today? I know the feeling well - you're looking forward to how great you'll feel about yourself, and how happy you'll be, as soon as you have enough time, money, success, possessions, etc. I know the feeling well because I was doomed to this pain on an almost daily basis. I'll explain how I escaped this fate in a moment.

Picture me...living each day with a vague unease that I am missing something. Dwelling on the missing things I "need" to be happy and worrying about how to get them. Worse still, having a general sense of dread that I will never get the things I "need" to be happy.

Does this ring a bell for you?

Yet it gets worse. Empathize with me growing steadily angrier and more resentful with each passing day because I'm not happy yet. I have a wife, a family, a great job, a nice house, cars, vacations, prestige, etc. I acquire each of these things with the "understanding" that my elusive happiness will finally arrive. Where is my happiness, dammit?!

Does that sound at all familiar?

Actually, it gets worse. My unease, dread, anger, and resentment only gets worse as my happiness remains forever "just ahead." I am soon experiencing depression, isolation, mood swings, and I am drinking to cover up my pain. I am not the happy, successful, well-known doctor, civic figure, husband, and father you see from the outside. What saves me from my personal hell? I'll tell you in a minute...

You're more fortunate than I. I didn't have The Fun Times newsletter to tell me that there is another way to live. I had to hit rock bottom before I found the answers sitting right in my backyard.

What was in my backyard? My patients, my worst-case, terminally ill patients, taught me how to turn my life around. While I was suffering, in the midst of everything a man could want, they were thriving with chronic illnesses and terminal diagnoses.

What did they teach me? The taught me about the amazing natural medicine of humor. And I, in turn, created a prescription which saved my life - and has changed the lives of hundreds since. The Fun Factor. The Fun Factor works for people in the worst of circumstances. And it also works for people like you and me, who don't have a terminal illness but still want help being more happy and less stressed.

Make sure you don't put off your happiness. Use my Fun Commandment, Listen Very Carefully, to provide yourself the tools, and ample motivation, to be happy today. Why does Listening Very Carefully work? This Fun Commandment makes it nearly impossible to look ahead because careful listening keeps you rooted in the moment. And this moment is where all the fun is!

Dale Carnegie, by the way, is a personal role model, but I must correct one thing he says. He calls your tendency to "put off living", your "human nature." He is wrong. Your human nature, or humor nature as I call it, is to live freely and happily in the moment. You learn to put off living as you grow up and are indoctrinated, by well-intentioned misinformers, into the ways of "serious" adulthood.

Do you ever seen a child put off living? Me neither! Reclaim your birthright. Don't put off a darn thing; remember to use The Fun Factor to be happy right now!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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Stop Chasing Happiness with Your Hard Work, Work Hard Because You're Happy!

2005-03-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

A middle-aged businessman sat dejectedly in my office.

" There's something wrong with me, Doc," he began hesitantly. "I have everything - money, power, a great family, and all the expensive playthings you could imagine. I expected to enjoy myself when I got to this point, but I don't."

"My life is a treadmill," he continued, "and I feel stuck on it. I golf regularly, go to the Bahamas twice a year, but nothing makes me happy like it should. I've worked hard all my life. I deserve some pleasure."

His eyes got misty. Embarrassed, he looked furtively around his chair. I'll finish telling you about his first visit in a moment…

My patient was making the mistake we all make when it comes to fun and recreation. We expect fun and happiness to be the "automatic" rewards of success. We set goals and work hard to achieve them. In the meantime, we accept the notion that our happiness is just around the next bend and will undoubtedly be reached with just a bit more hard work.

Our all-out pursuit of happiness takes its toll on us, especially when we notice that the fun and happiness we're chasing is like the proverbial brass ring - always out of our reach. So, we compensate ourselves with something called recreation. This is, in fact, why the concept of recreation was created in the first place. It's a socially endorsed periodic activity designed to "reward" us for the relatively joyless enterprise we call work. A reward we crave since our work mysteriously never delivers our fun and happiness!

Even the term recreation itself implies something is amiss; you don't need "re-creating," unless some part of the original "creation" is lost! But recreation has, unfortunately, become another "necessity" for busy folks who want to stay healthy, a protection from physical and mental burnout. All work and no play, it turns out, makes Jack and Jill sick people indeed.

Unfortunately, recreation too often represents one more "chore" on an already over-filled to-do list. What's more, the compensation we get from it is usually not sufficient to completely regain a healthy balance. Rarely are vacations long enough, and our weekends aren't free enough from responsibilities, to overcome our reluctance to return to the drudgery of our work.

Sadly, we realize that our efforts at recreation are usually as fruitless as the work from which we're escaping - neither effort is giving us the fun and happiness we really want. But, fortunately, there is a way to break this cycle. It involves correcting our mistaken idea that success "produces" fun. The truth is just the opposite - it is fun that produces success. Fun is what creates your good work, fun is not the result of it!

Guided by this truth, we can change our focus and look for fun in everything we do, especially our work. That is how the gentleman sitting in my office solved his dilemma. I taught him that fun can never really be postponed; we either have it in the moment or lose it forever. Once fun is lost, no amount of effort makes up for the deficit.

Here are the three steps my patient took that allowed him to finally find the fun and happiness he was always chasing:

He adjusted his attitude about fun

He learned to recognize the fundamental difference between fun and funny. Funny is a behavior that evokes laughter. Fun is simply the willingness to find something positive in every moment, regardless of the circumstances. At times, funny can be out of place; fun never is.

He rediscovered his aptitude for fun

We're all born with a natural affinity towards playfulness. He learned to "resurrect" his humor nature with certain self-disciplines, such as smiling more often, embracing the unexpected, and looking for the pony in every pile of manure.

He practiced effective fun tactics

This step wasn't about telling jokes. It involved learning such tactics as
accepting surprises as opportunities, not setbacks, and responding to others' ideas with "Yes, and…", instead of "Yes, but…"

By the way, during that first visit, my patient continued, "Where the hell's your Kleenex? You're a shrink, for God's sake. You ought to have a damn tissue around here."

"Do you want a new one or a used one?" I asked.

He looked at me sharply.

"The new ones cost extra," I added, keeping a straight face.

He was momentarily confused. Then he burst into a laugh, which lasted longer than my silly joke deserved.

"My God, that's the first good laugh I've had in a week," he said. "I used to laugh all the time."

That was just the beginning of his journey, of course, but once he began having more fun all the time, this man's recreation became a natural byproduct that added to his enjoyment, rather than a desperate effort to justify his hard work. And his hard work morphed into the natural outgrowth of his fun and happiness. Find your own fun and happiness by duplicating my patient's efforts and visit my website if you'd like a running start!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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Get A "Thank You" Telegram From Your Heart (After Fifteen Minutes Of Humor)

2005-03-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

Do you remember telegrams? (Am I dating myself?) Before email, when we wanted a message sent quickly we used a telegram. Did you ever wonder why Western Union wouldn't transmit exclamation marks in a telegram? The original Morse code alphabet provided for the exclamation mark, so Western Union could've included them in telegrams. I'll tell you the reason they didn't in a moment...

Dr. Michael Miller, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, announced some amazing research findings this week which you should know about. Of course, you are already devoted to the natural medicine of humor and my unique Fun Factor prescription. But Dr. Miller's research provides yet more concrete data to back up the amazing natural medicine of humor - as well as more data to persuade you to utilize my HA HA HA Prescription today for your greatest health. And I'll tell you about Dr. Miller's research after I do a quick review of my HA HA HA Prescription.

Those already intimately familiar with The Fun Factor know my HA HA HA Prescription well, but it bears a quick reiteration here. The third HA is an acronym for Humor Activity, the action you take to employ humor as your ultimate medicinal agent. Let me stress for those not as familiar with this prescription, the most important part of the natural medicine of humor is your attitude, not your actions. But Humor Activities are, indeed, essential as the final piece of the puzzle for your ultimate health and success.

You will recall that I advocate a minumum of fifteen minutes of laughter/humor/fun each day - although I have my patients perform thirty minutes a day (and recommend the same to you). Fifteen minutes of Humor Activity requires you to make a commitment to humor, to move it up in your hierarchy of daily activities and no longer relegate it to your "recreation" time. To help you do this, in The Fun Factor, I provide you with a lengthy list of simple, easy to implement, Humor Activity exercises. For that matter, you'll find lots of recommended comedy resources on my website so that you can easily surround yourself with all the Humor Activity necessary to get your fifteen (or thirty) minutes each day.

Dr. Miller's research team recruited 20 healthy volunteers to watch a segment of a very funny movie ("King Pin") and a very stressful movie ("Saving Private Ryan"). I'll skip the medical terminology and simply tell you that they found 19 of the 20 subjects watching a movie that caused laughter, recieved increased beneficial blood vessel relaxation. In contrast, Brachial artery flow was reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers following the movie clips that caused mental stress. Dr. Miller's team said overall blood flow increased by 22 percent during laughter and decreased by 35 percent after mental stress.

The research findings led Dr. Miller to advise, as he presented his data to the Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology last week in Orlando, Florida, a combination of daily exercises with fifteen minutes of laughter each day for optimal cardiovascular health. Sound familiar? I'm glad to have the University of Maryland School of Medicine join our team; the data from Dr. Miller's study reinforces what we have long known. Daily Humor Activity makes us more healthy, happy, and resilient - all the ingredients necessary for success, by anybody's definition.

By the way, Western Union abolished exclamation points to prevent lawsuits, because it was very easy to cause an error during the transmission of a message with a lot of punctuation in it. But even if there were no technological problem behind it, exclamation marks would've been still been shunned. Western Union charged for punctuation marks as if they were words!

Put an exclamation mark on the amazing natural medicine of humor. Make sure you are incorporating a minimum of fifteen minutes of Humor Activity today. Play with your preexisting humor props and utilize my website to find some recommended comedy resources, your body will thank you for it!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

How To Change Your Life By Getting Rid Of Your "In Spite Of's"

2005-03-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

Are you familiar with Rube Goldberg (1883-1970)? Rube was a cartoonist known for his crazy, complicated contraptions that performed the simplest tasks in the most ludicrously complex ways. His name has become an adjective describing the accomplishment of something simple through very complex means. More on Rube Goldberg in a moment...

Seriousness is a Rube Goldberg, by the way. Seriousness is an obtuse, time consuming, and supremely complex way to achieve things in your professional and personal life that would be done with less effort, greater effectiveness, and more aplomb using the natural medicine of humor. Allow me to elaborate

Using the natural medicine of humor to be healthier and more successful involves tapping into a ready and preexisting reservoir which is already abundantly present in your personal chemistry. That is the good news. But we must not underestimate the fact that using the natural medicine of humor also involves unlearning and divorcing ourselves from some deeply ingrained societal norms and teachings. Don't ever take for granted, no matter how well my Fun Factor prescription is working for you, that your commitment to fun will always be your innate, first choice when push comes to shove.

From your youngest days you have been taught that responsible and productive activity must be accompanied by seriousness. "Wipe that smile off your face," you were told - along with that old standby, "You think that's funny? I'll show you what's funny!" We have been indoctrinated, by well-intentioned people, that lightness, fun, and humor need to be relegated to our recreational time. The result of these incorrect teachings? An epidemic of seriousness in our nation, resulting in the largest number of stress symptoms and stress-related illnesses our medical community has ever seen.

Marshall Goldsmith, a preeminent executive coach and the founding director of the Alliance for Strategic Leadership, made some very cogent points recently that have great ramifications for you in this regard. Successful people like you, he said, are successful because you are doing a lot of things right (like using the natural medicine of humor). But successful people, he continued, are also successful in spite of some incorrect behavior that they hang on to (like getting serious).

You've undoubtedly adopted many behaviors from my Fun Factor prescription which have helped you create a personal and professional life more in line with your dreams and aspirations. But, because you have been as indoctrinated with societal beliefs mandating seriousness as the rest of us, you also carry some incorrect habits that you're succeeding in spite of. Identifying your "in spite of" habits can provide an incredible boost to your efforts to change your life with the natural medicine of humor.

Take a moment to think about how you're employing (and not employing) humor and fun in your life. Take time, right now, to create two lists:

How do you use humor to help you achieve successful personal and professional
results?

In what ways, and when, are you still superstitiously clinging to getting serious?

The first list you created is a list of behaviors you're succeeding because of. The second list shows you behaviors you're succeeding in spite of. Do you want a simple and powerful way to make quick and impactful changes in your personal and professional life? All you have to do is increase the behaviors on your first list and decrease the behaviors on your second!

And do you want a simple and powerful way to fill your first list to bursting and shrink your second list to almost nonexistent? Just make sure you use my Fun Factor prescription to supercharge your work, family, and personal life today!

Rube Goldberg published nearly 50,000 cartoons in his 72 years of work and he had a profound effect on American comedy. As biographer Peter Marzio wrote, "For Americans, complex machinery has been ever present and ever growing, but few Americans until the arrival of Rube Goldberg saw it as a subject for comedy." Do yourself a favor and check out Rube Goldberg!

But, while you're enjoying the cartoons of Rube Goldberg, make sure you get rid of the "Rube Goldberg" in your life - seriousness. Use my Fun Factor prescription and the information on my website to make your personal and professional efforts simpler and more effective.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Follow Shakespeare's Lead - Although Not Always Funny, He Was Fun

2005-02-27T20:53:00.000-05:00

You're familiar with the phrase, "there's the rub," meaning "there lies the difficulty"? It's usually used to describe a stumbling block in your path or the central dilemma. But while it's associated with Hamlet, did you know that this phrase was not coined by Shakespeare? I'll finish this thought in a moment...

Things that are funny are almost always fun. But things that are fun are not always funny. There's the rub. Most of us, I've found, confuse fun and funny...to our unfortunate detriment.

It's easy, and dangerous, to forget the distinction between fun and funny; when we focus on funny instead of fun we can quickly get discouraged because trying to be funny puts a lot of pressure on us. Especially when some of us are not naturally funny. Even if we are naturally funny, placing funny before fun is still a mistake because it causes us to prematurely focus on the outcome rather than the process of humor.

You see, funny is a result while fun is a process. Funny is an action, while fun is an attitude. Fun is virtually unrestricted and can be had almost anywhere at anytime, while funny has some very definite limitations. Since you can take an attitude of fun into any situation or circumstance, while being funny is sometimes inappropriate and unwelcome, is there any wonder that I am advocating fun over funny?

Here are three steps you can take right now to forget about being funny and start having fun:

Remember Your Fun. What games did you enjoy when you were 5 to 10 years old, when you were having fun naturally. Think of 10 specific examples of games you enjoyed and then ask yourself, "How many of them involved active imagination and physical movement?" I'll bet most of the games on your list involved both.

Plan Your Fun. Take the list you made in Step One and update each game to a version you might be able to play currently. Can you think of an adult version of hide and seek, tag, or playing with dolls? How about trying to avoid direct eye contact with your boss when she's looking for someone to work overtime this weekend, playing "phone tag," or trying on clothes at the mall? But those are my ideas -- see what you come up with.

Have Your Fun. Give yourself permission to have more fun and back it up with a commitment to have 15 minutes of fun each day. Why do you need a commitment to have fun? Because you are bucking years of incorrect indoctrination that fun should be reserved for recreation. You want the excellence which, research shows, fun creates so well.

The lesson is simple: you want the full benefit of humor's powerful natural medicine, so don't confuse fun with funny. They are definitely not the same thing. While it might be funny to give an elephant an enema, for example, I'm sure it's not fun! And now you know exactly how to lose your focus on being funny and get started having fun.

Shakespeare, by the way, didn't originate the phrase "there's the rub," he only made it famous. In Hamlet, Hamlet considers death as a way to end life's struggles and finally rest easily. But then he also realizes there would be a catch.

"To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause."

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

Don't fall for the trap of trying to be funny instead of having fun. You'll put less pressure on yourself and you'll also feel the full measure of humor's incredibly powerful natural medicine.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Make Fear A Nine Day Wonder - Motivate Yourself With Fun

2005-02-21T19:21:00.000-05:00

Have you heard something referred to as a "nine day wonder"? The phrase refers to something that causes a sensation for a brief period of time and then fades into obscurity. The origin of this phrase is usually tied to the nine-day reign of Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554) as Queen of England. This reluctant queen met an untimely fate. More on that later...

I added a new Fun Commandment recently to address a very pesky and persistent nine day wonder we all face - fear as a motivator. Fear is a great motivator...but only for a very brief period! Then it does worse than fade into obscurity; fear adds to our load of stress and pressure. So I'm calling for an end to this nine day wonder's reign with my Fun Commandment: Motivate Yourself with Fun Rather than Fear.

Motivating yourself with fun rather than fear pays big dividends in myriad ways. Making this choice accelerates your ability to communicate, rests your brain, lowers your stress, increases your tolerance for pain, among other things. In this article, however, I am focusing on one incredibly important and impactful side effect of this Commandment - using fun to motivate yourself increases your creativity.

Creativity is an ability highly sought by businesses and employees alike. Creativity is trumpeted in every mission statement and praised by every CEO for good reason - we know that creativity brings breakthroughs! Since the ability to create breakthroughs is both a highly sought after and also a highly marketable skill, creativity gets a lot of deserved attention.

Yet there are still many myths to dispel about creativity. One of the biggest myths is that creativity is fueled by time pressure. Time pressure is an example of fear-based motivation because it involves trying to escape a negative consequence rather than moving toward a positive outcome. Deadlines are a reality, but using fear to fuel our creative juices has the opposite effect.

The alternative is to use fun as our motivator. Theresa Amabile, head of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, has been studying creativity for 30 years. For the past 8 years she has collected nearly 12,000 daily journal entries from 238 people working on creative projects in seven large corporations. She and her team scoured journals for moments when people struggled with a problem or came up with a new idea. The following rules for using fun to motivate creativity are inspired directly from Amabile's research.

Deadlines are fear-based; if you want to be creative you must give yourself an "incubation period." Deadlines create distractions that rob your attention. Even with a deadline looming, to get creative you should focus on your work in an environment protected from distractions.

Competition is fear-based; collaboration is fun-based. If you want to amplify your creativity, foster the confidence to share your ideas with others. Be open to debate with collaborators and create a noncompetitive environment. You'll hit new heights of creativity!

You are more likely to have a creative breakthrough if you were happy the day before. When you're happy, which usually happens as a byproduct of fun-based motivation, the research clearly indicates a great chance of your happiness "incubating" overnight to show up as a creative idea the following day.

How about that? I couldn't have asked for more compelling evidence that fun is a better personal and professional motivator than fear. Amabile's 8-year study clearly shows that today's happiness predicts tomorrow's creativity! So start getting happy today by motivating yourself with fun and then re-create your world tomorrow!

By the way, Lady Jane Grey was reluctant to take the throne of England because she was only 15 years old and she held unpopular Protestant beliefs. Her reluctance was well-founded; the young Queen relinquished the crown after just 9 days, plead guilty to treason, and was eventually beheaded.

Let's give fear, as our motivator, the same fate. Fear becomes a nine day wonder when we replace it with fun today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Quit Smoking With The Natural Medicine Of Humor

2005-02-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard the phrase "skeleton at the feast"? It refers to a somber element in an otherwise festive atmosphere and was popularized by the Greek historian Plutarch (46-120). Plutarch wrote of an unusual practice among the ancient Egyptians - during festive celebrations and feasts, the Egyptians would place a mummy at the table with the other guests. The skeleton at the feast was supposed to remind the guests of their own mortality.

I’ve noticed that many of my patients who smoke, deep down, consider themselves skeletons at the feast; by all indications, 7 out of every 10 smokers want to quit smoking - but can't. Actually trying to quit smoking may not be the real problem. As the old saying goes, it's easy to quit smoking - I've done it a hundred times! Does anyone doubt that nicotine is one of the most dangerously addictive drugs in the world ? We all know people addicted to smoking, people who are trapped on a deadly merry-go-round of promises that they'll quit "tomorrow."

There are hundreds of remedies for smoking addiction on the market, which should tell you right away that none offers universal success. The odds are stacked heavily against quitting successfully, and we know it. If you’re a smoker, it’s almost enough to make you give up before you start. But what if there existed a formula, based upon the strongest natural medicine known, that would help you quit smoking , stay quit, and not cost you a dime? Sounds too good to be true, right? Except this formula exists - I've taught it to my patients and I've used it myself.

This solution is so powerful and so cost effective because it's based upon a natural medicine you've carried around in your personal chemistry since birth. You once used this natural medicine, the medicine of humor, to summon incredible energy, astounding creativity, and supreme resilience - and you will soon use it this way again! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that maximizing the amazing, free natural medicine of humor will not only free you from your smoking habit, but empower you to solve an array of other medical and personal problems as well.

No other doctor in the world has the credentials I have to teach you about this particular application of the free natural medicine of humor. Having discovered its power twenty-five years ago while working with a terminally ill cancer patient, I have spent more than two decades researching, fine-tuning, and prescribing humor in an amazingly diverse array of personal and medical applications. You will soon discover that you can use the free natural medicine of humor to skyrocket your success in your relationships, your career, your stress management, your weight loss, your mental health, your fitness program, your parenting, your sexual health and more, because humor is powerful, abundant, free, and always accessible to you.

Over two decades ago, I began creating the Fun Commandments from my work with terminally and chronically ill patients. These patients taught and inspired me to use the incredibly powerful natural medicine of humor both in their treatment and also in my own life. As my patients' lives blossomed under this treatment plan, I realized that I actually needed humor's medicine as much, or more, than they did.

I had a great family, a wonderful home, lots of expensive "toys," and a bright career as a psychiatrist. But by the late 1970's I realized that I wasn't doing well at all. I had learned to be funny, but I didn't know how to have fun. I was experiencing pleasure, but I wasn't celebrating life. I was doing good things, but I wasn't free to enjoy my accomplishments.

Does this sound even remotely familiar to you? In contrast, I realized that many of my patients were doing fine compared to me. They were able to have fun even in the midst of the pain, uncertainty, and fear that accompanied their diagnoses. So, as they urged me to use the natural medicine of humor to change my own life, my patients also convinced me to write down my findings so they could be shared widely. The results of those initial writings were christened the Fun Commandments and served as the foundation for my Fun Factor prescription, a groundbreaking treatment approach which teaches you, step by step, how to employ the amazing power of humor to supercharge every area of your life.

After decades of research, I can teach you how to turn on humor's amazing power as easily as flicking on a light switch. From working as a performing comedian on the national Comedy Caravan tour to developing intimate, working relationships with great humor/practitioners like famous comedian Jerry Lewis, I have learned how you can infuse your personal and professional life with such an amazing level of resilience and energy that you will feel reborn - no matter how successful you are already!

Quit Smoking Using Dr. Kuhn's Fun Commandments

Step One: Go the Extra Smile

This Fun Commandment utilizes an amazing resource that is always available to you, is completely under your control, and is hardly ever inappropriate or unwelcome. Going the extra smile is my number one Commandment for having more fun, but it also provides your best escape from physical and psychological pain. Going the extra smile gives you a steady infusion of energy and vitality - which will be a vital aid in your efforts to quit smoking!

Let's face it, by giving up smoking, you're kicking both a physical addiction and a psychological one. You need a physical and a psychological advantage to make this work and, fortunately, you have a built-in method for infusing yourself with all the energy and resilience you need. To continually energize yourself with strength and encouragement all you have to do is remember to smile - and then do it!

Does this sound too simple? Let others scoff at the notion of a simple smile while you unleash your secret wealth of power upon your resolution to quit smoking. We have measured it - your mood is elevated, your pain lessens, your creativity is sparked, and your communication is enhanced even from a "fake" smile!

Force a smile on your face, and you literally, change your psychology and your physiology. Will you still encounter difficulties on your journey to quit smoking even if you're smiling? Of course - and don't believe anyone who tells you they can be completely avoided! But your difficulties will be minimized by a genuine, sustainable, and renewable source completely under your control because you will draw power from your smile.

To read the rest of this article, please visit my website!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Will Help You Stop Running The Gauntlet

2005-02-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

We know that by being too hard on ourselves, we run ourselves through the gauntlet every day. But did you know that the phrase "running the gauntlet" is actually a corruption of the Swedish word "gatlopp," which means "lane"? The Swedish army used the gatlopp to punish soldiers; the guilty soldier was forced to run naked between two rows of soldiers who beat him with whips and clubs. More about this in a moment...

Let's discuss my Fun Commandment that is the perfect antidote for putting yourself through your gauntlet of mental punishment: Laugh with Yourself. The trick to this Commandment is to make sure you're laughing with yourself and not at yourself. Laughing with yourself rather than at yourself is, after all, the difference between endorsing yourself versus attacking yourself.

Of course, endorsing yourself is what you're after with this Fun Commandment. When we laugh with ourselves we are saying, loudly and clearly, that we are okay; we are supposed to make mistakes and be incongruent because we are perfectly imperfect. We take the pressure off our harsh self-expectations and judgments. No one is as hard on you as yourself if you're not careful to laugh with yourself!

Another reason this Commandment is so vital is connected to what I've found through three decades of medical practice - you cannot think yourself into a new way of living, you must live yourself into a new way of thinking. It's all well and good to talk about going easier on ourselves, but until we actually start to let up, those thoughts will simply remain unrealized "good intentions." When we laugh with ourselves we put our goal of easing up on ourselves into action and that has the wonderful benefit of actually changing who we are and how we think of ourselves!

Here are three keys to ensure you are laughing with, rather than at, yourself:

Your humor should give you confidence, not take confidence away from you. If you find yourself buoyed and bolstered by your humor, you are definitely laughing with yourself!

Your humor should give you energy and not discourage you. Laughing with yourself is a gift you give yourself and should serve to renew and recharge you.

Your humor should be self-effacing rather than self-deprecating. Self-deprecating means "exposing a weakness," which is the opposite of what laughing with yourself is intended to do. Self-effacing means "dropping the pretense" and, if you are dropping your pretense with your humor, you are achieving the maximum gain from laughing with yourself!

By the way, British soldiers who observed the gatlopp during the Thirty Years War brought the expression home with them. But they changed the word to the similar sounding English word "gauntlet." Please don't run yourself through your personal gauntlet of mental abuse; laugh with yourself this week as you make your inevitable mistakes!

And...I'll see you at my website!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Cliff Kuhn M.D.'s Fun Commandments Are Your Key To The Natural Medicine Of Humor

2005-02-12T11:36:00.000-05:00

My current Fun Factor prescription is the culmination of decades of subsequent research, practice, study, and application of my Fun Commandments with my patients. I actually went on a national tour as a stand-up comedian to do research! (I hope you didn't have to sit through any of my performances) I continue to work (and play) with world famous humor practitioners like Mr. Jerry Lewis, whom I have counted as a colleague, friend, and admirer for over a decade! If you combine all the amazing lengths I have gone to study humor's healing effects with my national stature as a Professor and former Associate Chairman of the University of Louisville School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry, you quickly realize that I am the only doctor in the world with the qualifications and expertise to teach you about my Fun Commandments and Fun Factor prescription.

My Fun Commandments Are Designed to Change Your Life

My Fun Factor prescription is your source for finding freedom from your pain and illness, navigating swiftly through grief and change, having relationships better than you ever dreamed, ridding yourself of your bad habits once and for all, finding and loving a job of your dreams, and so much more. But it all started with my Fun Commandments and, to this day, my Fun Factor prescription is still centered around these dynamic principles.

This article introduces you to my Fun Commandments and "primes your pump" for the day you are ready to step into a life you never dreamed possible for yourself - the day you start using my Fun Factor prescription!

We all know about humor's value, especially in recreational settings, and most people agree that laughter is beneficial. If you are part of this majority, you are to be applauded because you are already more than halfway towards turbo-charging your life with the natural medicine of humor. As you read my Fun Commandments and begin to practice them in your life, you will start to see that most of us have barely scratched the surface of humor's potential to supercharge our personal and professional lives. If you maintain an open mind and are willing to learn, no matter how successful you are now, my Fun Factor prescription and, of course, the Fun Commandments which form its foundation will lower your stress levels by as much as 40%, make profoundly positive changes in your relationships, and increase your job satisfaction by up to 55%.

My Fun Commandments are more relevant today than ever before because I continue to explore and enlarge their scope and impact. In fact, two of the Fun Commandments you're about to read were added within the past year. You can rest assured that, until you invest in my Fun Factor prescription, my Fun Commandments will provide you with a foundation for amazing energy, growth, and positive change - as they have done for hundreds of my patients, family members, and friends.

Dr. Kuhn's Fun Commandments

Always Go the Extra Smile

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one provides you with the most energy. It is the one strategy most effective for increasing the fun in your life. Smiling is a way to open your heart and at the same time touch the hearts of others. We have measured decreased stress, improved immunity, increased tolerance for pain and frustration, and higher levels of creativity - even from a "fake" smile!

Tell the Truth

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one helps you keep an inventory of yourself. Our humor natures are open windows to the truth; therefore, if you want your sense of humor to be strong and available, you must make the effort to be true to yourself. This Commandment promotes trust in yourself and keeps you on a steady, forward pace since you will be much more cognizant of what is working in your life and what isn't.

Laugh With Yourself First

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one helps you take yourself less seriously. When you make a mistake, laughing with yourself keeps you from beating up on yourself. It is a boost to your self-esteem because it is a vote of confidence in yourself. This Commandment sends a clear message to you that you are okay. You know that your foibles do not form links in an unbreakable chain, because you are learning from them and becoming more effective.

Welcome Your Mistakes

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one allows you to stop being so hard on yourself. Jerry Lewis once told me that he is always nervous before he goes on stage, but "the trick is to harness the fear and make it your ally." In other words, don't be afraid of your mistakes - welcome them! In fact, your mistakes can be so helpful to you that I suggest making them on purpose. You're going to make mistakes anyway. Making them on purpose helps you turn your fear into fun.

Listen Very Carefully

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one keeps you from being too self-centered. Successful comedians will tell you that the capacity to listen is their number one creative tool. Yet listening is an often overlooked and under taught skill and most of us are very poor at it, preferring to form our next phrases rather than hear what is being said to us. To really listen we must turn the volume down on our own internal chatter and this allows us to communicate from our hearts rather than our heads.

Let Go Frequently

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one provides you with serenity. If you've ever learned to juggle you quickly discovered that we all have a tendency to hold on to objects for too long. The same phenomenon occurs in life and, since we are all jugglers - juggling our family, our work, our community responsibilities, and our own care, letting go is a vital skill that will prevent stress and give peace of mind.

Challenge Your Assumptions

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one keeps you open minded and learning. It is also an effective way to bring humor into your life. We make assumptions because it saves us time and energy in our busy lives, but assumptions can keep us from growing and changing if we are not capable or willing to see new perspectives. Get in the habit of seeing things around you in a different way and your sense of humor will become supercharged.

Stay Focused, Yet Flexible

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one eases you through changes and transitions. This strategy is about keeping your priorities clear, but keeping your options open. You can't help but become an inspired opportunist when you develop a trait for seeing the victories inherent in what you used to call defeats. As you'll come to find out, this trait is shared by all successful people.

Act and Interact with People

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one gives you a constant and reliable source of amusement. Reaching out and touching someone is often a learned skill, but it pays big dividends. Realize that taking chances means you will make mistakes, but they will happen less often if you are willing to learn from them. You'll also find that a failed action is much more valuable to your health and success than a failure to act.

Practice Wanting What You Have, Rather Than Getting What You Want

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one helps you attract, and hold on to, abundance. One of the great paradoxes of life is that, as long as you try to fill your inner void with things outside yourself, your void only gets bigger. Learning to love what we have and who we are - right now - opens us up to receive so much more, because we want things for the right reason. We're no longer trying to "fix" ourselves.

Choose to Motivate Yourself With Fun Rather Than Fear

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one teaches you how to set goals and achieve them. You really only have the choices of fun or fear when it comes to motivation and they both work well. The problem, however, with choosing fear is that it is impossible to sustain the motivation without harming ourselves through burn-out and stress. Choosing fun to motivate ourselves is the simple difference of striving toward positive goals, rather than escaping negative ones.

Celebrate Everything

Of all my Fun Commandments, this one provides you with abundant joy every day. If you make a practice of celebrating events you normally treated as mundane, you will be filled with an energy and spirit that you haven't felt since childhood. Left to choose between feeling like a jaded pessimist or a naive optimist (of course, I'm using two extremes as examples), why wouldn't you choose the latter? Either way, your life will still unfold around you - but you will see it as a gift.

Your Three-Step Process to Soup-Up Your Personal and Professional Life, No Matter How Well It's Going Now!

Subscribe to Dr. Kuhn's Fun Times newsletter. The Fun Times is all about using your natural power of humor to increase the quality of your life - especially your health and success. The Fun Times is 100% free, and is delivered instantly, every week, to your email inbox. If you sign up now, I'll also throw in a copy of my "Stop Your Seriousness" Ecourse and my book, Ten Ways You Can Be Happier...Right Now! which will show you how you can use my Fun Factor prescription in your life to increase your success and health!

Check out The Fun Factor. This prescription has changed so many lives for the better - it would be a shame if you passed it up. Check it out here if you're sick of wishing about finally fulfillling your potential!

Make a commitment to consciously focus on one of Dr. Kuhn's Fun Commandments each day. If you are like most people, you'll find that each of his Fun Commandments holds a special relevance in almost any situation. You'll realize that the natural medicine of humor really can do everything for you that Dr. Kuhn promises because it changes you from the inside out!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Is Worth Much More Than "30 Pieces Of Silver"!

2005-02-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

Thirty pieces of silver - that's what Judas was paid by the Jewish elders for his betrayal of Jesus, according to the New Testament. While the phrase "piece of silver" was commonly used to describe a variety of coins from Jesus' era, we can assume that Judas committed his betrayal for a pittance. The term "thirty pieces of silver" has become part of our lexicon now, symbolizing the price of betrayal.

How may times have we sold ourselves out for thirty pieces of silver? Betraying our true nature and values is such a common foible that I made Tell the Truth one of my Fun Commandments. Ignoring this Commandment exacts a high toll on our humor nature, but abiding by it pays big dividends.

As a physician I know I don't have sole custody of the truth; according to my wife, I'm lucky to get occasional visiting rights! But I do know this: we all know more truth about ourselves than we're letting on. It's hard to admit to ourselves that we are inconsistent, absurd, and sometimes dead wrong - let alone revealing that to another.

Our humor nature can calm such fears because it like us just the way we are. It loves our inconsistencies, thrives on our incongruities, and celebrates our foolishness. Our humor nature will not join us in our efforts to be false because it loves and respects us too much to sell us
out.

Therefore, if you make the effort to be true to yourself you will strengthen your humor nature. And, in a delightful snowball effect, when your humor nature is strengthened you will find it that much easier to be true to yourself! Yep, when it comes to telling yourself the truth, each act reinforces the next!

It's about time you faced a fact - you are a very special person! What's not to trust? You are worth celebrating. Besides, as I realized some time ago, who's going to put up with you unless you set the example for them?

To begin being true to yourself and stop selling yourself out, complete the following three questions:

The purpose of my life is:

I have been placed in this situation in order to:

My highest priorities today are:

A.

B.

C.

Here's one more tip. As you answer those questions, don't linger over the negative, stressful feelings. Practice the "catch-and-release" technique taught in meditation; acknowledge the negative feelings only long enough to release them. That way you will not deny your negatives, but you will also not allow them to taint your true values and priorities.

By the way, just as you have regretted selling yourself out, Judas apparently deeply regretted betraying his friend. According to one tradition, Judas returned the money to the Jewish elders before hanging himself. The money was then used to buy a field where the poor could be buried.

Don't wait until your regret becomes that overwhelming! Start telling the truth today and use your strengthened humor nature to abide by it! I'll be interested in your results!

FYI - In response to some requests I have just written an article about my Fun Commandments. You can read it by visiting the article's page on my website.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Will Keep You From Jumping Off That Cliff

2005-02-03T20:32:00.000-05:00

"Don't be a lemming" is a phrase we're all familiar with. This comes from the lemming's (those cute, furry, little rodents who live in Arctic regions) propensity to commit mass suicide - following each other blindly off cliffs to their death in the sea below.

But did you know that "lemming suicide" is a myth most likely traced to Walt Disney? I'll explain more in a moment...

Natural medicine is a hot topic. There are more than enough websites, newsletters, and products offering solutions to your ailments to keep you busy for a year investigating them. The advent of the Internet has made it easier than ever to research and try alternative or adjunctive treatments. You no longer need to an entire afternoon waiting in a doctor's office to remedy many of your symptoms because reliable, reputable purveyors of proven natural medicines are all around you.

Luckily for you, you already possess the most powerful natural medicine on earth. You carry this medicine around in your own chemistry and its benefits are unparalleled. While I would never recommend that you discard traditional medicine (I am a medical doctor, for goodness sake!), I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that maximizing the amazing, free natural medicine of humor can solve a wide array of medical and personal problems.

No other doctor in the world has the credentials I have to teach you about this particular application of the free natural medicine of humor. Having discovered the power of humor twenty-five years ago while working with a terminally-ill cancer patient, I have spent more than two decades researching, fine-tuning, and prescribing humor in an amazingly diverse array of personal and medical applications. You will soon discover that you can use the free natural medicine of humor to skyrocket your relationships, your career, your stress management, your weight loss, your mental health, your fitness program, your parenting, your sexual health and more, because humor is powerful, abundant, free, and always accessible to you.

After decades of research, I can teach you how to turn on humor's amazing power as easily as flicking on a light switch. From working as a performing comedian on the national Comedy Caravan tour to developing intimate, working relationships with great humor/practitioners like famous comedian Jerry Lewis, I have learned how you can infuse your personal and professional life with such an amazing level of resilience and energy that you will feel reborn - no matter how successful you are now!

In this article I will outline the third main reason that the free natural medicine of humor is far superior to any other medicine, natural or otherwise. (The other two main reasons are covered in my last two blog posts)

Humor Is An Attitude, Not An Action

The best part of using the free natural medicine of humor, for many people, is that you can do it whether or not you're a funny person capable of telling jokes and making others laugh. Don't worry if you're "not funny" or are not the "life of the party"; you do not need to be funny to use the natural medicine of humor because humor is an attitude, not an action.

As you internalize my Fun Commandments, you will see that the benefits come almost entirely from your own shifting paradigms and not your outward actions. You will encounter many situations where everyone else is (literally) "deathly serious" and jokes would be inappropriate, but you will still be infused with an amazing, private energy because you will be smiling on the inside! You may never become good at making other people laugh; yet you will be laughing with yourself everyday because your spirit has been transformed by the free natural medicine of humor.

I'm sure you're realizing the implications of humor as an attitude rather than an action. First, you are always in control of your attitudes; simply by intently focusing on my Fun Commandments you will find yourself brimming with opportunities to capitalize on humor's natural power. Second, although jokes and laughter are sometimes not appropriate, having a light attitude always is - regardless of your circumstances. After some practice you will be filled with energy, creativity, zest, and vitality during circumstances that would've ordinarily drained and defeated you!

My unique prescription, The Fun Factor, unlocks the free natural medicine of humor and is one prescription that refills itself daily, especially when you are receiving my newsletter, The Fun Times. The Fun Times has the largest circulation of any newsletter in its industry and serves as a strong weekly reminder to use humor's power throughout your personal and professional life.

By the way, lemming populations do explode in number every four years. So, with 100 million lemmings running around, it is concievable that a few get pushed off a cliff - accidentally. The whole "lemming suicide" myth, however, originates from a 1958 Disney film called "White Wilderness." In "White Wilderness," the production team captured hundreds of lemmings, took them to the filming location, and chased them off a cliff to create a dramatic scene. And the legend was born!

You, of course, do not have to be a lemming; you don't have to follow the crowd and adopt deadly seriousness. You now have a blueprint for taking yourself lightly and unleashing a torent of energy, vitality, zest, and creativity. See you at my website!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Can Add Years To Your Life...And Life To Your Years!

2005-01-31T18:51:00.000-05:00

We've all heard, haven't we, that a 40-year-old was considered elderly in the past? With America's aging population, why wouldn't we take advantage of reasons to count ourselves lucky to live beyond 40? After all, as little as 200 years ago the average life span in North America was 37 years. But the idea that anyone over 40 back then is a misinterpretation of statistical data. I'll explain why in a moment...

Natural medicine is a hot topic. There are more than enough websites, newsletters, and products offering solutions to your ailments to keep you busy for a year investigating them. The advent of the Internet has made it easier than ever to research and try alternative or adjunctive treatments. You no longer need to an entire afternoon waiting in a doctor's office to remedy many of your symptoms because reliable, reputable purveyors of proven natural medicines are all around you.

Luckily for you, you already possess the most powerful natural medicine on earth. You carry this medicine around in your own chemistry and its benefits are unparalleled. While I would never recommend that you discard traditional medicine (I am a medical doctor, for goodness sake!), I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that maximizing the amazing, free natural medicine of humor can solve a wide array of medical and personal problems.

No other doctor in the world has the credentials I have to teach you about this particular application of the free natural medicine of humor. Having discovered the power of humor twenty-five years ago while working with a terminally-ill cancer patient, I have spent more than two decades researching, fine-tuning, and prescribing humor in an amazingly diverse array of personal and medical applications. You will soon discover that you can use the free natural medicine of humor to skyrocket your relationships, your career, your stress management, your weight loss, your mental health, your fitness program, your parenting, your sexual health and more, because humor is powerful, abundant, free, and always accessible to you.

After decades of research, I can teach you how to turn on humor's amazing power as easily as flicking on a light switch. From working as a performing comedian on the national Comedy Caravan tour to developing intimate, working relationships with great humor/practitioners like famous comedian Jerry Lewis, I have learned how you can infuse your personal and professional life with such an amazing level of resilience and energy that you will feel reborn - no matter how successful you are now!

In this article I will outline the second main reason that the free natural medicine of humor is far superior to any other medicine, natural or otherwise. (I've outlined the first in my previous post and will outline the third in my next.)

Humor Is Abundant And Free

Humor, as you will learn, is everywhere you look and as abundant as trees or water. We can never run out of humor, or use it up, because humor perpetuates itself as we engage it; when we look for humor, we find it and vice versa. In other words, when you use the natural medicine of humor you won't find that your reservoir of humor is merely quickly refilled, you will find that you always have more than you started with.

Humor is also always free; this natural medicine has no co-pays and no deductibles. Yes, it takes practice and some discipline to maximize its amazing power, but humor's natural medicine will remain at your beck and call, regardless of your financial circumstances. Unlike other things that are free, however, humor's value to your health, wellness, and success is incalculable.

How exciting it is to know that the most impactful medicine in the world is also the one most readily available and accessible to you. Once you are familiar with my Fun Commandments, which you can learn for free on my website, you are set for life - especially after I reveal the last reason that humor is far superior to any known medicine.

Start Using the World's Most Powerful, Free Natural Medicine...Right Now!

Here are some simple, easy steps you can take right now to start using the free natural medicine of humor to supercharge your life.

Subscribe to my Fun Times newsletter. The Fun Times is all about using your natural power of humor to increase the quality of your life. The Fun Times is 100% free, and is delivered instantly, every week, to your email inbox. If you sign up now, I'll also throw in a copy of my "Stop Your Seriousness" Ecourse and my book, Ten Ways You Can Be Happier...Right Now! which will show you how you can use my Fun Factor prescription in your life to increase your success!

Check out The Fun Factor. This prescription has changed so many lives for the better - it would be a shame if you passed it up. Check it out here if you're ready for this amazing, free natural medicine to start shaping your life in a most unique and positive way!

By the way, two thousand years ago our average North American life span was only 23 years! But that cannot mean that people who exceeded the average life span were considered old. The average life span is determined by the ages of all those who die, and that figure is drastically impacted by the rate of infant mortality.

Thus, as infant mortality rates have dropped (which they have steadily for hundreds of years), the average life span has increased. Most deaths, after all, have always clustered around two age groups: under one year of age and over 75 years of age.

Don't just increase the length of your life, increase the quality of it too! Start using my Fun Factor prescription to infuse your life with the free natural medicine of humor today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Can Do What For Me?

2005-01-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

Press agents and publicity people are always pressured by their clients to get them noticed by the public. In the 1940's, the press agent for the famous comedy duo, Abbott and Costello, found a unique way to get his clients into newspapers across the country. More about this in a moment...

Natural medicine is a hot topic, there are enough websites, newsletters, and medical products that you could stay busy for a year investigating them. The advent of the Internet has made it easier than ever before to research and try alternative or adjunctive treatments. You no longer need to spend the afternoon waiting in a doctor's office to remedy your symptoms because reliable, reputable purveyors of proven natural medicines are all around us.

Luckily for you, you already possess the most powerful natural medicine on earth. You carry this medicine around in your own chemistry and the pharmaceutical companies would pay a fortune to reproduce its effects because this medicine's benefits are unparalleled. While I would never recommend that you discard traditional medicine (I am a medical doctor, for goodness sake!), I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that maximizing the amazing natural medicine of humor can solve a wide array of medical and personal problems.

I am the only doctor in the world with the credentials to teach you how to apply the natural medicine of humor. Having discovered the power of humor twenty-five years ago while working with a terminally-ill cancer patient, I have spent more than two decades researching, fine-tuning, and prescribing humor in an amazingly diverse array of personal and medical applications. You will soon discover that you can use the natural medicine of humor to skyrocket, among other things, your relationships, your career, your stress management, your weight loss, your mental health, your fitness program, your parenting, and your sexual health because humor is powerful, abundant, free, and always accessible to you.

Through my decades of research, I have learned to turn on humor's amazing power as easily as flicking on a light switch. From working as a performing comedian on the national Comedy Caravan tour to developing intimate, working relationships with great humor/practitioners like famous comedian Jerry Lewis, I have learned how to infuse your personal and professional life with such an amazing level of resilience and energy that you will feel reborn - no matter how successful you are now!

In my next three blog entries I will outline the three main reasons that the natural medicine of humor is far superior to any other medicine, natural or otherwise, known to humankind.

Today: Reason Number One

Humor Is Powerful

Humor is a staggeringly powerful natural medicine. This vibrant, endless resource packs a wallop in at least ten proven, documented areas of health and wellness. You will never find a list of benefits this comprehensive from any medicine. And with this medicine you will never experience any side effects, nor will you ever have to purchase refills for your prescription - you'll only need to be reminded to use it!

I have researched and documented the following ten effects of using the natural medicine of humor (if you'd like to read the research, contact me through my website, www.Natural-Humor-Medicine.com). Can you imagine how much money the pharmaceutical companies would pay for the rights to a drug with these effects - and with no side effects? The natural medicine of humor:

Reduces your stress

Stimulates your immune system

Relieves your pain

Rests your brain

Stabilizes your mood

Decreases your anxiety

Enhances your communication

Inspires your creativity

Maintains your hope

Bolsters your morale

I have watched my patients use the natural medicine of humor to:

Overcome fatal cancer diagnoses

Enhance the pleasure of their life by learning to paint and draw

Lose their depression

Form lasting relationships with a mentor that opens doors of employment and promotion

Get back to hiking and bicycle riding again

Experience a very fulfilling sex life

Lose the spare tire around their midsection

Lower their blood pressure

Fall in love with their husband all over again

Land their dream job

Bound out of bed with an energy and enthusiasm they thought was lost

Overcome shyness and attract positive social attention at parties

And so much more!

Not using your humor to its fullest potential is like owning a Porche that you only drive to the corner grocery! Humor has so much more value than a recreational tool! And the good news for all of us is, no matter how well you are now using your sense of humor for health, success, vitality, and wellness, you can always learn use it more effectively! The natural medicine of humor is that powerful because it never runs out!

Abbott and Costello's agent, by the way, took out an unusual insurance policy with Lloyd's of London that got fast national attention. The Abbott and Costello policy promised to pay $100,000 to the survivors of anyone who died laughing during one of their performances!

How's that for the power of humor! Find out how to start using that power yourself by visiting my website today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Find The "Other Half" Of Your $60,000 Equation

2005-01-26T22:13:00.000-05:00

Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, the well-known philanthropist, kept a close eye on where each of his contributions went.

He was once approached by the secretary of the New York Philharmonic Society for a contribution of $60,000. At first, Carnegie agreed. Then he suddenly changed his mind. "There must be other people," he said, "who like music enough to help with their own money."

He told the secretary that if he could find someone else to donate $30,000, Carnegie would match the contribution.

The secretary returned the next day -- successful! More on this in a moment...

I often encounter nodding heads when I talk about the impressive natural medicine of humor. Sometimes, unfortunately, those nodding heads mean that people feel like they are already experts and don't need to learn anything new. I say that anyone with that attitude is half-right.

Let me explain.

You are half-right if you think yourself an expert with nothing new to learn. You are an expert because you were born infused with the natural medicine of humor. Humor and the energy and excellence it produces oozed from your pores as a child. In fact, when my patients begin to hear whispers of jealousy about their new "can-do" attitudes and seemingly boundless optimism, they excited thank me for reminding them of things they once knew like the back of their hand.

You are also half-right because you don't actually have anything new to learn. You already know all the things you need to profit handsomely from the natural medicine of humor. You have simply been conditioned by society to relegate those parts of you, which I help you recapture with my Fun Commandments, to your recreation. So, you only get to experience the deep and replenishing power of your humor, on average, for a mere two or three hours a week. That's just not enough!

Society is very good at convincing us to be serious. We see lots of funny movies, television programs, books, magazines, etc. but, in reality, we are a very serious culture. Just look at how pervasive our political correctness has become -- pirate costumes with eye patches are now not recommended for Halloween costumes because they might offend blind people! (Who's going to tell them?) If we're not careful we are naturally led to take ourselves as seriously we take as our responsibilities and that's when we are really in trouble!

So you are right -- you already know about humor and how to use it. What I can help you do is learn to employ the natural medicine of humor in every area of your life. What would it be worth to you to be closer to your spouse, to be able to hike and ride your bike more often, to spend more time with your grandchildren, to get the job you always wanted, to make friends faster and easier while feeling more at ease in social situations, to enjoy more satisfying sexual intimacy, and to get out of bed with a smile each day because you can't wait to see what the day has to offer? I can't promise you that each one of these exact things will happen to you, but I can tell you that the natural medicine of humor, and my Fun Commandments, have made these things (and more) possible for me, my family, and hundreds of my patients.

Best of all, it won't cost you a dime to learn. Simply visit my website and start learning about the natural medicine of humor.

I know...I know...you already know all about humor. Well, you're right - you do! Now all you have to learn is how become more energetic, successful, healthy, focused, relaxed, confident, creative, and resourceful than you already are! Sound like a good deal? See you at my website.

By the way, the secretary of the New York Philharmonic Society returned to Carnegie the next day and announced he had the donor. Carnegie happily wrote out a check for the other $30,000. Then he asked, "Would you mind telling me who gave you the other half?"

"Mrs. Carnegie," the secretary said.

Get the "other half" of humor's powerful natural medicine working for you today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Who Told You That You Were The Center Of The Universe?

2005-01-22T23:59:00.000-05:00

Astronomer-mathematician Ptolemy (85-165) devised a theory of planetary motions which holds that the earth is at the center of the universe. The sun, moon, and planets revolve around the earth in the Ptolemaic universe. This notion was accepted for approximately 1,500 years. More on this in a moment...

I see more and more people each day who suffer from unhealthy levels of stress. Whether suffering from sleeplessness, weight gain, mood changes, hair loss, worry, agitation, or any other of the myriad symptoms commonly associated with stress, stress-related illness and suffering is at an all-time high in America and growing every year. Luckily for you, my work with the powerful natural medicine of humor has uncovered the culprit behind your unhealthy stress symptoms, as well as the solution to simple stress management.

My medical practice, involving decades of work with chronically and fatally ill patients, has clearly identified the cause of our painful stress symptoms - seriousness. Seriousness means taking yourself too seriously; seriousness means you are taking responsibility for the things for which you're not responsible (the results, or outcome, of your footwork) and, consequently, you're positioning yourself incorrectly as the "center of the universe." Seriousness causes so much pressure that stress management, which I will show you how to perform in this article, becomes impossible.

The antidote for your seriousness, and your foundation for healthy stress management, is the natural medicine of humor. Humor's incredible power is harnessed to maximum impact through my unique Fun Factor prescription. Based upon my Fun Commandments, which were forged in unison with some incredible patients of mine, my Fun Factor prescription is capable of producing such profound positive change to your health and personal success that you will soon have people whispering, "Is she always happy?"

Step One: Laugh with Yourself

My first stress management Fun Commandment is: Laugh with Yourself. This Commandment is not about humiliation or self-denigration, it is the ultimate in self-respect because it teaches you to appreciate your "perfect imperfection" and find gentle amusement in your foibles. And, when it comes to stress, there is plenty of amusement to be found which will greatly aid your stress management.

Here's the first amusing thing about your stress: you can't live without it, yet too much is bad for your health. Like many of the essential things in life: we need a certain amount of stress to survive, yet too much can kill us. Like water, for example. We die if we are without water for more than a few days, but submerge us in water and we die a lot sooner.

Without stress, also, we might not eat. Hunger is a form of stress our body needs occasionally to remind us we need food. Stress causes the adrenal glands to work. Athletes would not perform at their best without stress-induced adrenaline. Every activity causes a certain amount of stress. So does inactivity. In fact, to be completely stress-free we would have to be dead - not a highly recommended stress management technique.

As you learn to laugh with yourself you will become like an athlete - who can have fun running the mile or the marathon and still turn in peak performance. In fact, laughing with yourself even enhances performance. Too much seriousness can tighten muscles through negative tension which, of course, counteracts the wonderfully effective stress management power of this Fun Commandment.

Step Two: Make Sure You Are Motivating Yourself With Fun, Not Fear

Step two in my Fun Factor stress management formula is not based on an actual Fun Commandment, per say. Motivating yourself with fun rather than fear, however, is a crucial step to allowing your commitment to laugh with yourself to fully impact your healthy stress management.

Which brings us to the only true choice you have in life. Will you be inspired by fear or by fun? There is only one choice regarding our health, wellness, and fitness - fear or fun. It all boils down to that. It is your option and responsibility to choose one or the other.

We live our lives as though every day was an emergency; as though a bear is chasing us all the time. This is unfortunate for three reasons:
1. Of all the stress management techniques I know, this is the absolute worst because it only increases our stress! It reduces the effectiveness of humor's natural medicine to zilch.
2. We now know that such a constant state of "wariness" or agitation breaks down our coping mechanisms over time. It is impossible to sustain the fear-based behavior without breaking down or burning out.
3. A more pernicious error occurs. We begin to thing that the avoidance of whatever we fear is the same as having fun. Joy becomes synonymous with the avoidance of fear.
Step Three: Tell the Truth

The final step in your Fun Factor stress management formula is a Fun Commandment, Tell the Truth. This Commandment refers more to self-honesty than it does "cash register" honesty; getting in the habit of telling yourself the truth will cement humor's powerfully positive effect over your stress. Your stress management becomes second nature when you are honest with yourself each day, because you can then immediately, easily, and simply apply steps one and two of my Fun Factor stress managment formula to your life.

Telling yourself the truth, for our purposes, focuses on knowing when your stress levels are rising. As we noted in step two, everyday activities normally produce a baseline level of stress and this stress is usually alleviated by your daily routines (for example, when you experience the stress of hunger, you eat). Step three in my Fun Factor stress management formula teaches you to recognize the signs of unhealthy stress and take corrective action immediately.

Here are some simple stress management techniques to apply when your self-honesty reveals rising stress levels:
1. Start your day off in the shower singing at the top of your voice a nonsense song you make up that incorporates the idea that this is a glorious day and great things are going to happen to you in it. Can't sing? Good! Can't rhyme? Who cares? The words are for you alone. This is not a contest. Be as off-key as you need to be...unless you are Placido Domingo.
2. Travel to work alone along the same boring route every day? Make up a game to play as you look out the window of your car, bus or train. For example, how many dogs will you see on the way to work?
3. Have a routine job? One that you find boring? Does it give you stress symptoms, such as drumming your fingers or tapping your toes? Perhaps you need to introduce fun into your workday.
4. Smile. You feel stressed? Smile. It is a simple activity, so simple that even infants can do it. Just for kicks, count how many times you smile in an hour. None, you say? Then this stress relief game is even easier for you, and more important than it is for those who smile all the time. (And you wondered how they didn't feel the same degree of stress that you do?)
5. Recognize that stress is a choice. We can accept it and put up with it, and the damage it can cause our bodies. We can avoid it, but that could be a difficult choice if it means quitting the only job we know in a tough job market. That might easily create worse stresses. Or we can deal with it and defeat it.

Just as Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus disproved Ptolemy's earth-centered universe in the 16th century, so the natural medicine of humor disproves that you must suffer from being the center of your universe. Remove yourself from the pressure and stress a life where everything revolves around you...start using my Fun Factor stress management formula, and the rest of my Fun Commandments, today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Make Your Dreams Come True With Humor's Natural Medicine

2005-01-21T23:13:00.000-05:00

By Guest Columnist, Greg Kuhn
Cliff Kuhn, M.D.'s son, Laugh Doctor Junior

Haven't we all heard that, no matter how long they seem to go on, our dreams last only seconds? Did you know that this was proven wrong back in the 1950's, when scientists learned that the dreaming portion of sleep can be measured by REM, or rapid eye movement? Our first dream of the night may last only ten minutes, while the one we finally wake up from may have lasted up to forty-five minutes! More on this later...

"Be forewarned," my mentor told me. "You're a great candidate but it's probably going to take you a couple years, at least, to meet the right people and get a job. This is a big, and political, school system." I was being mentored regarding how to secure a job as a high school assistant principal while teaching in the fifth largest school district in the United States. Even though I was a great teacher, my mentor was cautioning me because I had only four years of teaching experience, I had no influential allies at all, and the job I sought was a "plum" position not to be had without the right connections from "on high."

But what I did in the next year astounded my mentor; I rocketed up to the top of the organizational chart and wrote my own ticket by navigating the school district's politics and hierarchy with ease. I am not some "Slick Willie" character and I didn't sell my soul to the Devil -- I merely used the unbelievably powerful natural medicine of humor to motivate myself and super-charge my footwork!

Yep, with a mere five years of teaching experience (and without sacrificing any of my personal ethics), I landed an assistant principalship at one of the most prestigious high schools in the United States. How did I go from a complete unknown, an anonymous member of the herd, and merely one-of-a-hundred seeking the job to grabbing the "brass ring" in one of our nation's largest school districts? The natural medicine of humor provided all the fuel I needed and I'll tell you exactly how it worked.

First, I need to tell you that I learned to use this insanely powerful natural medicine by following my Father's unique Fun Factor prescription. From his work with terminally-ill and chronically suffering patients, my Dad crafted his life-changing Fun Commandments and then molded them into his Fun Factor prescription - which he can now dispense to people over the Internet. The Fun Factor turned my Dad's patient's lives around, his life around, and our whole family around too.

My incredible rise through the "ranks" was based primarily on two of Dad's Fun Commandments, Stay Focused, yet Flexible and Laugh with Yourself. Although these were my two mainstays, there are many more Fun Commandments and I highly recommend them all. If you are not familiar with The Fun Commandments, visit my Dad's website today to learn about them for free.

I stayed focused, yet flexible during my rise to success. My focus stayed squarely on developing a key relationship with a gatekeeper in our school system. I stayed flexible by knocking on every door I could find and not getting discouraged by the many dead ends I encountered. With persistence I eventually found a person who saw my talents, took a liking to me, and championed me to other decision-makers.

Without the focus I wouldn't have been persistent enough to success and without the flexibility I would've given up long before I achieved my goal. The natural medicine of humor provides buoyancy during such a process because it is such a resplendent reservoir of energy, vitality, and zest. In fact, my focus was so intense that I turned strangers into allies in very short order and my flexibility so pliable I bounced back from slammed doors to immediately knock on the next!

I laughed with myself and, combined with my focused, yet flexible determination, forged a persona that left little doubt I belonged in the position I sought. Laughing with yourself, taking yourself lightly enough to find amusement in your "perfect imperfections" rather than beating yourself up for your mistakes, projects an aura of absolute self-confidence. In fact, as I've learned to fine-tune this Fun Commandment I've had to occasionally tone it down because I find less confident people become very jealous and resentful of me - as in "who does he think he is, feeling so good about himself?"

Laughing with myself is not self-denigration, it is actually the most uplifting, self-affirming thing I can do. Combined with my flexible focus, I was able to laugh off the naysayers and negative people who decried my ambitions and would've delighted in my failure. I'm not special, anyone who takes a chance is watched by those around them. Laughing with yourself, however, allows you to find the amusement in the human drama of life and not get caught up in a dangerous game which invites seriousness (taking yourself too seriously...the deadly polar-opposite of humor's natural medicine) into your life - treating your feelings (and other's feelings) like facts.

While there is more to tell, my highest recommendation is that you visit my Father's website and learn all about The Fun Factor. He will teach you for free and your life will start changing today! Take this as a personal challenge and send me an email, through Dad's website, if I'm wrong about how incredibly powerful the natural medicine of humor is!

By the way, the longest dream on record was measured in 1967 in a lab at the University of Illinois. Two hours and twenty-three minutes! I hope it wasn't one of those "you're in front of the class with no pants on" dreams!

Make your dreams come true and last a lifetime by super-charging your life with the natural medicine of humor today!

Greg Kuhn, sitting in for,
Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Mental Health Maintenance Is Super-Charged By The Natural Medicine Of Humor

2005-01-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

In the classic Frank Capra film, It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey's mental health is overwhelmed by the difficulties of his life and he wishes he'd never been born. George's guardian angel grants his wish and takes him to a grim reality as it would've been without him. George feels nothing when he reaches into his coat pocket to retrieve the flower his daughter, Zuzu, placed there - and that's when George knows that his wish has come true...he's never been born.

Wishing she had never been born, Roberta became my patient, seeking desperately to improve her mental health. Like the fictional George Bailey character, Roberta's depression and anxiety had grown so strong as to threaten her ability to lead any semblance of a normal life. Fortunately for Roberta, she soon discovered exactly why the natural medicine of humor is one of the most powerful adjunctive treatments for improving mental health, because humor literally pours water on the fire of depression and anxiety.

Roberta is not alone. As many as 35% of all Americans suffer from depression and anxiety, the twins that make mental health elusive for millions. Your depression and anxiety is exacerbated by your seriousness - taking yourself too seriously. As we move into adulthood, we unfortunately buy into the notion that responsible and productive people must be "serious." As we make the biggest mistake of our lives and relegate our humor nature and fun to recreational activities (if we experience fun at all), we doom ourselves to all the symptoms of the corresponding seriousness that fills the void - declining health, rising stress, increased pain, lessened energy, impaired creativity, and more.

The good news for your mental health, however, is that we know how to shrink your deadly seriousness to practically nothing and reduce almost completely the sway it holds over your health, vitality, wellness, and zest. The natural medicine of humor is an incredibly powerful resource that you already possess; you've only forgotten how to use it to maximum effectiveness. You will soon discover that, while not a panacea, the natural medicine of humor is a tremendous tonic for depression or anxiety and will also supercharge other treatments because it is an amazing adjunctive medicine too!

I have distilled the natural medicine of humor, through my years of medical practice, into an amazing prescription I call The Fun Factor. Based on what I learned over twenty years ago from a terminally ill fifteen-year-old patient, I created a unique set of principles I call the Fun Commandments, then forged these Commandments into my Fun Factor prescription and have been prescribing The Fun Factor with great success for years. This report will show you how to use just three of my Fun Commandments to turn your mental health around, and gain new joy, pleasure, and appreciation from your life!

Improve Your Mental Health Using My Fun Factor Prescription

Step One: Always Go the Extra Smile

The first Fun Commandment I recommend for improved mental health is: Always Go the Extra Smile. This Commandment is doubly helpfully for depression and anxiety because not only does it provide measurable emotional and physical relief, but it also is completely under your control - regardless of your circumstances. Because smiling remains totally under your control, it can be your greatest resource for using humor's natural medicine to accelerate your mental health.

Smiling produces measurable physical benefits you can experience immediately: your stress decreases, your immunity improves, your pain and frustration tolerances increase, and your creativity soars. And guess what? You experience all these benefits even if your smile is "fake." That's right...forcing a smile onto your face perks up your immune system and lightens your mood just as readily as a genuine smile. Fake a smile and you'll soon feel well enough to wear a real one!

This is great news for your proactive stance on sustainable mental health. You have an amazing amount of pre-emptive control over your mood - you can, literally, choose more energy and happiness. The key for your use of this Fun Commandment in enhancing your mental health is to start practicing right now, so that smiling becomes an entrenched, habitual method of accessing the natural medicine of humor. If you wait to smile until your mental health has taken a turn for the worse, and depression or anxiety has taken hold of you, it will not be as effective.

Step Two: Act and Interact

Smiling leads us right into the second Fun Commandment you'll find instrumental in maintaining your mental health: Act and Interact. Humor's natural medicine works best when we are sharing ourselves and this Commandment will teach you how to capitalize on the control you've taken over your physiology and mood by smiling. Acting and interacting is now easier for you to do because you're smiling more. Not only is your mood improved, but your smile is also a pleasant invitation to other people.

My suggestion is that you solidify the power of this Commandment by setting a reasonable goal regarding the number of people you will interact with each day. These social interactions are great for your mental health, forcing you to exchange information and ideas with another person. Combined with your commitment to smiling, your interactions should be pleasant, because your heightened energy, lessened pain, and lowered stress levels are very attractive to others.

Beyond keeping you out of isolation, there is another reason why acting and interacting with the people you encounter fosters improved mental health. It allows you to avoid spiritual "flat tires." Spiritual flat tires occur when you sidestep, or avoid, an interaction that is about to happen naturally - you duck into an office to avoid encountering someone in a hallway or you don't answer the phone because you don't want to talk to the person calling. This type of avoidance drains and deletes your reservoir of powerful natural energy and siphons your mental health reserves.

Have you ever noticed that it usually takes you twice as much mental and physical energy to avoid doing a job than you would have expended just doing it? It also takes twice the energy to avoid acting and interacting with the people who cross your path because you are, in effect, saying, "I'm going to correct the mistake that nature made by putting this person in my path and I'm going to correct it by being mentally and spiritually negligent." Mental and spiritual negligence have the same effect as physical negligence (isn't it strange how you get tired if you don't exercise?). If your mental health can afford to allow this much energy to be drained, then you have a much bigger reservoir than I!

But spiritual flat tires do more than drain our energy, they are detrimental in at least two additional ways:
1. We miss out on an interaction with a teacher. If nature didn't have a lesson for you, that person you just avoided would not have been placed in your path. You say that the person you just avoided was a negative influence or would've wasted your time? I know we have legitimate schedules to keep, but if I am avoiding people based on my prejudgment of them, I'm cutting myself off from my greatest teachers - those very same people.
  
  We all learn tolerance from the intolerant, patience from the impatient, temperance from the intemperate, gentleness from the ruffian, etc. I am supremely grateful for those teachers and the lessons they give me.
2. We create a small, nagging spiritual void of dishonesty, the kind of dishonesty that keeps us from laying our heads down with complete peace of mind each night. Our spiritual flat tire is caused by the pothole our avoidance created; it is a natural consequence, or symptom, of our spiritual dishonesty. These consequences clutter our lives with mental and emotional baggage that further drains us of our energy and vitality.
Step Three: Celebrate Everything

The third Fun Commandment which will help you use the natural medicine of humor to charge up your mental health is: Celebrate Everything. Celebrating everything may sound like a monumental task to someone who's mental health isn't up to par, but you will find this part of my doctor's orders much easier to fulfill once you start practicing my first two Commandments. In fact, celebrating everything is more than a maintenance step providing sustainable mental health. It will also become your lifestyle, the more you practice it, because you will enjoy the results so much.

How do you celebrate everything and how will this keep your mental health on the upswing? The epitome of this Commandment is found in the old joke about the boy who wanted a pony for his birthday. Instead, he found a room full of manure waiting for him. But he dove right into the dung, gleefully exclaiming, "With all this manure, there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Laugh as we might, we're quick to remember that, as adults, we would never allow ourselves such "naive" enthusiasm. Why not? Do you realize what is behind such a "grown up," "mature" decision? Your deadly seriousness (taking yourself too seriously) encourages the attitude that a mature adult should not let herself be so optimistic and thus mental health is jeopardized.

We could do more than chuckle at this birthday boy's unabashed optimism - we should emulate it! When was the last time you encountered an unexpected pile of manure in your life? You had absolutely no control over the mess, right? But you had absolute control over your reaction to it and this is the key to using celebration to keep your mental health improved!

When you celebrate everything, the natural medicine of humor creates spiritual, emotional, and mental health like nothing you've felt before. You will find that your fears become much less controlling when you are celebrating everything because it no longer matters so much how things turn out. In fact, you are literally ready for anything because you are prepared to find the blessing in whatever happens.

My daughter-in-law, for example, broke her back last year. My son, who is often my model for the embodiment of my Fun Commandments, can tick off a laundry list of blessings his family has received as a direct result of his wife's "tragedy." Not that his mental health hasn't been challenged, but faced with the choice of depression and anxiety over an event he couldn't control versus finding the blessings waiting for him, he has chosen the latter.

The choice to celebrate everything is not a panacea; my son's choice did not change the reality of his wife's injury. What did change, however, was his ability to respond to the injury and, thus, keep his mental health on an even keel. Celebrating everything changes our lives because it allows us to positively control the only things we have control over - our actions, ideas, and attitudes.

There you have it. Start by going the extra smile, use your newfound smiling energy and vitality to act and interact with people, and celebrate everything to maintain your positive momentum. Say good-bye to imprisonment from depression and anxiety and welcome to your new world of improved mental health!

Start Using The Fun Factor to Improve Your Mental Health...Right Now

Here are some simple, easy steps you can take right now to turbo-charge your mental health.

Subscribe to my Fun Times newsletter. The Fun Times is all about using your natural power of humor to increase the quality of your life - including your mental health. The Fun Times is 100% free, and is delivered instantly, every week, to your email inbox. If you sign up now, I'll also throw in a copy of my "Stop Your Seriousness" Ecourse and my book, Ten Ways You Can Be Happier...Right Now! which will show you how you can use my Fun Factor prescription in your life to increase your mental health!

Check out The Fun Factor. This prescription has changed so many lives for the better - it would be a shame if you passed it up. Check it out here if you're sick of wishing for mental health and want to finally achieve your greatest mental health!

My patient Roberta, by the way, learned to use these three Fun Commandments - and the rest of my Fun Factor prescription. She has enjoyed the same job for three years now and was recently engaged to be married. Roberta occasionally has setbacks, as most people suffering from depression or anxiety do. But, her mental health has never been stronger as she continues to apply The Fun Factor to her life.

In It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey is so shocked by the grim vision of a world without him that he decides he wants to live again and begs to return. He knows he is back when he finds Zuzu's flower petals in his coat pocket again.

Let this article be like finding Zuzu's petals. Move forward today with a new, positive outlook on your improved mental health by using my Fun Factor prescription.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Casanova Only Wished He Had The Natural Medicine Of Humor At His Disposal Like You Do!

2005-01-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

Giovanni Casanova (1725-1798) was an Italian adventurer, writer, soldier, musician, spy, and diplomat. Those accomplishments, however, have been historically overshadowed by Casanova's reputation as a freewheeling sensualist. The term "Casanova" has come to represent a person of great sexual ability and indulgence.

The feeling that he wasn't a "Casanova" and the thought that he should be, was what motivated Paul to seek my help. He was worried that he was letting his partner down sexually. Paul's problem was not unique and it had an understandably common effect on his self-esteem and self-worth. Humans are sexual creatures, by nature, and the inability to enjoy healthy, appropriate sexual activity and/or sexual desire weighs heavily upon our holistic health and well-being.

When you are unable to enjoy appropriate sexual activity, your mind, body, and spirit feel off kilter because of your inherent sexual nature. You were born to have fun - and sex plays a large role in that. You deserve to have a regular, healthy expression of your sexual nature. It is fun and doesn't need to harm or impose on anyone else.

Concerns regarding a lack of sexual activity, as well as a lack of sexual desire, are becoming more frequent each year. Consequently prescriptions for erectile dysfunction and low libido are growing at an astonishing rate. Perhaps part of that growth can be explained by a lessening of the stigma of reporting sexual problems, but we certainly know that the typical causes of sexual dysfunction are more common today than ever before. Putting aside diet and physical health, which can play a vital role in a healthy sexual lifestyle, the number one cause of sexual dissatisfaction is stress.

Stress-related illness is at an all-time high (and still growing), so it comes as absolutely no surprise that symptoms of stress are also prevalent. The good news for you is that we know what causes most of the debilitating stress you experience. Your stress is a direct byproduct of seriousness - taking yourself too seriously. As we move into adulthood, we unfortunately buy into the notion that responsible and productive people must be "serious." As we make the biggest mistake of our lives and relegate our humor nature and fun to recreational activities (if we experience fun at all), we doom ourselves to all the symptoms of the corresponding seriousness that fills the void - declining health, rising stress, increased pain, lessened energy, impaired creativity, and more.

Even better news for you, however, is that we also know how to shrink your deadly seriousness to practically nothing and reduce almost completely the sway it holds over your health, vitality, wellness, and zest. The natural medicine of humor is an incredibly powerful resource that you already possess; you've only forgotten how to use it to maximum effectiveness. You will soon discover that, while not a panacea, the natural medicine of humor is a tremendous remedy for a variety of health concerns and will also supercharge other treatments because it is an amazing adjunctive medicine too!

I have distilled the natural medicine of humor, through my years of medical practice, into an amazing prescription I call The Fun Factor. Based on what I learned over twenty years ago from a terminally ill fifteen-year-old patient, I created a unique set of principles I call the Fun Commandments, then forged these Commandments into my Fun Factor prescription and have been prescribing The Fun Factor with great success for years. This report will show you how to use just three of my Fun Commandments to turn your sexual health and performance around, and gain new joy, pleasure, and appreciation from your sexual activity!

My first Fun Commandment has a profound effect on your sexual health because it is a fabulous introduction to the natural medicine of humor, in general: Go the Extra Smile. Smiling, as simple as it sounds, is a key to improved sexual appreciation because of its simplicity and almost constant appropriateness. A smile almost never offends and it is completely controllable, regardless of your circumstances; smiling is the easiest way to infuse yourself with the natural medicine of humor!

Smiling enhances your sexuality because it immediately decreases stress and fills you with energy and creativity. The best news about the positive effects of smiling is that these benefits are measurable even if you are wearing a "fake" smile. If you are thinking that lowering your stress level, while simultaneously snowballing your energy level and creativity, will add rocket fuel to your sexuality...you are absolutely correct!

Smiling has multiple benefits for your sexual health and wellness because it turbo-charges both your mood and your physiology. But smiling does another thing that accelerates your sexual satisfaction. It attracts reciprocal attention from your mate because a smile is an open invitation. Think of a smile as a happiness virus and you'll soon realize that your improved sexual health, your reduced stress, and increased energy can be easily shared with your partner.

Another of my Fun Commandments that allows the natural medicine of humor to soup-up your sexuality is: Laugh with Yourself. Laughing with yourself is the epitome of self-acceptance, not self-denigration as you might've been led to believe. You cannot take yourself too seriously when you're willing to laugh with yourself because you're embodying the philosophy of taking yourself lightly.

Let's face it, we are funny creatures and that's how we're supposed to be! Looked at objectively, our bodies are both fun and funny; the physical act of sex forces us to conjoin in some awkward and, almost, impractical ways. Giving ourselves permission to see the humor in our funny bodies and their functions eases the pressure we place on ourselves to perform sexually and our humor adds further fuel to our commitment to take ourselves less seriously.

Why wouldn't we laugh out of sincere appreciation for our perfect imperfections and the funny physicality of sex? To not see the gentle, and sometimes obvious, humor in these things means we are taking ourselves, and our sexuality, way too seriously. It's really all quite hilarious, in my opinion...we spend so much time, energy, and resources focusing on an act that takes less than 1% of our waking time. If we're not careful this teeny, tiny portion of our day can dominate our culture and our personal thoughts! Not that you don't have some good reasons to think about sex, but give yourself permission to gently laugh at your obsession and you'll find some additional stress released.

The last Fun Commandment we'll apply to your sexual health today is: Let Go Frequently. I always say that in life, as in juggling, success depends on how quickly you are able to let go. Also in life, as in juggling, we all have a tendency to hang on to things too long, even when they are no longer working for us. In this case, hanging on to our harsh expectations creates stress that deflates our sexuality because we are unable to measure up.

Society deluges us with images of youthful sexuality; it's easy to imagine that everyone except us is engaged in passionate, daily sexual activity and we begin to feel that there is something wrong with us when our sex lives don't match the Madison Avenue fantasies. Let go of those images today, because no one except you has the authority or knowledge to decide what your optimal sexual habits and practices should be. Your sexual expectations regarding frequency, sensation, and/or duration are only placing unneeded pressure on yourself and that pressure only creates more stress.

Let go of your expectations of performance too. Many of my patients and clients imagine they must achieve a certain level of sexual performance for their mates to be pleased. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you set expectations regarding outcomes, you set yourself up for failure because you are putting even more pressure on yourself. Let go of the end results; concentrate on the fun, joy, and love inherent in sex because that is where the true pleasure is found.

Let go of sexual frequency and performance expectations, smile, laugh with yourself, and go along with whatever unfolds as a result of your footwork today. If you can do these things you will be a very sexual, passionate creature and sexy in the most important eyes of all - yours! Remember that you are already perfect (perfectly imperfect) and you don't need fixing. Instead of fixing yourself, use the natural medicine of humor to relax, smile, and enjoy the ride.

My patient, Paul, committed himself not only to these three Fun Commandments, but also to my entire Fun Factor prescription. He and his partner did not morph into Casanova's...but they didn't care because they formed their own definition of sexuality based on fun, joy, and love. Over time Paul and his partner arrived at an open, honest, and fun expression of sexual passion, based on my Fun Commandments, with a frequency and zest that satisfied both.

By the way, what you don't know about Casanova was that his true value to humankind was not as a red-hot lover, but as one of the most gifted and authoritative social historians of his age. He spent his last years as a librarian, before dying of syphilis. Still want to be just like him? I suggest using the natural medicine of humor to find your own sexual identity and enjoy a healthy satisfying sex life of your own creation.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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The Natural Medicine Of Humor...Priceless!

2005-01-13T22:01:00.000-05:00

People commonly leave pennies lying on the ground, figuring it's not worth the effort to pick them up. Is it? Yes! I'll explain why in a minute...

Here's something that's definately worth your time: have you ever written a gratitude list? You'll be amazed at how infused you are with the natural medicine of humor afterwards!

I refer to a list of things, even the simplest, about which you are grateful.

Whether you have or not, try writing one right now. Make a list of five things about which you're grateful...

breathing

chocolate

a warm bed on a chilly Sunday morning

sunshine

a friend's smile

I invite you to contact me, at my natural medicine of humor website, afterwards to share your list, and let me know how it makes you feel. I'll bet you feel great because by writing the list you just celebrated!

Celebrate Everything is one of my Fun Commandments! You'll learn how to use them all, for free, when you visit Natural-Humor-Medicine.com. When we celebrate, our humor nature flies free and we're at our best.

By the way, if it takes an average of three seconds to pick up a penny that translates into $12 an hour. I know some will say that $12 an hour is still not worth the trouble, but can we agree that you definately have to be raking it in to leave a nickel?

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

The Natural Medicine Of Humor Is The Root Of All Good

2005-01-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

We've all heard that the Bible says money is the root of all evil, right? Maybe we've even used it to justify our not earning as much as we once hoped we would. If the Bible says this, we wonder, what are we supposed to do about it. Should we give away all we have?

Did you know that the Bible does not contain that oft-quoted phrase? More on this in a moment...

Your social status, of course, goes a long way toward determining how much money you have. Michael Marmot, a professor of epidemiology and public health at University College, London, says in his latest book, The Status Syndrome, that your position in the social hierarchy also signifies how much control you feel you have over your life.

Your social position can predict your susceptibility to disease, even if you take into account income, education, and access to medical care. Even tiny distinctions matter, Marmot found. So, not only would a factory worker be more susceptible to heart disease than a CEO, but a person with a master's degree will have a shorter life span than a person with a Ph.D.

Make you want to go back to school? Don't worry, the natural medicine of humor will take care of you a lot more quickly and inexpensively than getting another degree!

You needn't fret over your status. Subscribe to my newsletter,The Fun Times, and regularly visit my natural medicine of humor website to avail yourself of my many fun, free tools to maximize your humor nature.

You will be in control of one variable that Marmot didn't measure. You will be in control of your seriousness (taking yourself too seriously)! And being in control of your seriousness is your best, and most important, tool for transcending any negative prophecies regarding your health and longevity!

Take it from a doctor. Whether you're a streetsweeper or a CEO, following my prescription for fun, The Fun Factor, will help you lead a long, healthy, successful life!

By the way, what the Bible says is "...the love of money is the root of all evil." (1 Tim 6:10) Still need proof that money is not a great evil? The Bible also says "Bread is made for the feast, and wine gladdens life, but money answereth all things." (Eccles. 10:19)

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Neither Rain Nor Heat Nor Gloom Of Night Will Keep The Natural Medicine Of Humor From Making You Happy And Healthy

2005-01-09T20:09:00.000-05:00

Have you ever considered how lucky we are that for a mere $.37 we can have mail delivered to almost anyone, almost anywhere in the United States? And the mail delivery and pick up is included in the price! Outside of federal holidays, the mail even comes regardless of the weather - hence the U.S. Postal Service motto: "Neither rain nor heat or gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

But did you know that the Postal Service doesn't actually have a motto? More on this later...

Celebrating Everything is important enough to your health and success that I've made it one of my Fun Commandments. I invite you to learn all about my Fun Commandments, and my unique Fun Factor prescription they form, for free on my website. Starting today, you can use the natural medicine of humor to find energy, zest, health, and vitality you thought was forever a childhood memory.

The epitome of celebrating everything is found in the old joke about the boy who wanted a pony for his birthday. Instead, he found a room full of manure waiting for him. But he dove right into the dung, gleefully exclaiming, "With all this manure, there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Laugh as we might , however, we're quick to remember that, as adults, we would never allow ourselves such "naive" enthusiasm. Why not? Do you realize what is behind such a "grown up", "mature" decision? Your deadly seriousness (taking yourself too seriously) encourages the attitude that a mature adult would never let herself be so optimistic.

But we should do more than chuckle at this birthday boy's unabashed optimism - we should emulate it! When is the last time you encountered an unexpected pile of manure in your life? You had absolutely no control over the mess, right? But you had absolute control over your reaction to it!

When you celebrate everything, the natural medicine of humor creates mental, emotional, and spiritual health in us like nothing you've felt before. You will find that your fears become much less controlling when you are celebrating everything because you it doesn't matter so much how things turn out anymore. In fact, you are literally ready for anything because you are prepared to find the blessing in whatever happens.

My daughter-in-law, for example, broke her back last year. My son, who is often my model for the embodiment of my Fun Commandments, can tick off a laundry list of blessings his family has received as a direct result of his wife's "tragedy." Not that he's been without stress or struggle, but faced with the choice of resentment and anger over an event he couldn't control versus finding the blessings waiting for him, he has chosen the latter.

The choice to celebrate everything is not a panacea; my son's choice did not change the reality of his wife's injury. What my son's choice did change, however, was his ability to respond to the injury. Celebrating everything changes our lives because it allows us to positively control the only things we have control over - our actions, ideas, and attitudes.

Here are two methods to instill the habit of celebrating everything:

Make a point to say "thank you" to someone everyday. This works best if you appreciate someone who largely goes unnoticed because celebration is one half gratitude. Cultivate gratitude and you're halfway to making each day a celebration.

Listen for the sounds of laughter all around you. If you are intent on hearing it, you will notice over twenty variations...and you will notice a lot of it! The other half of celebration is joy and listening for laughter focuses you on the existing joy all around you.

By the way, that famous quote assigned to the Postal Service comes from the Greek historian Herodotus and was written about the mounted postal couriers of ancient Persia. It was the architects designing the New York City post office who placed the message along the top of the building - most likely because there exist no other quotes regarding mail service!

But if you start making a commitment to celebrate everything, you'll find that neither rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep you from gratitude and joy. And a state of gratitude and joy unleashes humor's natural medicine like nothing else! See you at my website.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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Start Losing Weight Today Using The Natural Medicine Of Humor

2005-01-08T14:45:00.000-05:00

P.T. Barnum, who dedicated his life to entertaining the masses, often relied on size-related adjectives to sell his attractions. His posters and announcements were peppered with words like mammoth, extraordinary, colossal, and gargantuan.

Unfortunately, if you're like most of us those words might be used to describe you as well. Americans have an obsession with losing weight and with good reason; the percentage of overweight people in the United States is doubling every ten years - from 1 in 200 in 1986, to 1 in 50 in 2000. Pretty soon there won't be enough room for us all on this continent!

We've identified a curious paradox: Americans are obsessed with weight loss and spend billions on it each year, yet 140 million of us are overweight or obese - and that number grows (pun intended) each year. With all that energy and money thrown at it, why can't we lose that excess weight and why do we pack it on in the first place?

Let's quickly move beyond simple, though true, solutions. We intellectually "know" that there are only two things necessary for maintaining our proper weight (outside of a medical condition): eating right and exercise. We "know" these things are true - so why don't we apply them?

The answer is simple and so is the solution. As you learn the following diet you will realize that with a little willingness and discipline you need never worry about having to lose weight again. You will lose your extra weight and you will never gain it back as you see how well my weight loss method works!

Let's just be honest about it - we love food! Eating is an enjoyable ritual and we commonly use food to reward ourselves because it feels good to eat. Whenever we feel unfulfilled or frustrated (when we need affirmation or esteem) we are naturally drawn to fill that void with food. When we're lacking pleasure in our lives we rely on the eating ritual to make up the difference.

And this formula works; overfilling ourselves with food does fill our emptiness. It works so well that, just like any addict, we become gluttons - regularly overstuffing ourselves and/or eating too much "comfort" food to fill our emotional void. The end result, despite our best intentions, is a constant, steady weight gain because we're using food for a purpose it is not intended - support.

The healthful solution I've created to fill your emptiness exists already inside you because you were born with it. Unlike food, this solution fills your void while also fostering lasting and sustainable health, vitality, energy, and fitness. Instead of food, what you need is more fun because fun is the most accessible and constant source of energy and support known.

Because it is an energy, fun is readily and abundantly in you and around you. Once you learn to find more fun in your relationships, your work, and your home life I guarantee you will quickly do away with those excess pounds - and they'll never return. And the best news is...I will teach you exactly how to do this using my Fun Factor Diet.

My Fun Factor Diet is based upon my unique prescription, The Fun Factor, because The Fun Factor delivers you to new heights of health, wellness, and success. Years ago a terminally ill patient, Lisa, taught me about the incredibly powerful natural medicine of humor. I used Lisa's lessons to create my Fun Commandments, eventually molding them into my unique prescription, The Fun Factor, capable of producing health, energy, and vitality that others will envy.

My Fun Factor Diet works because it is based on my Fun Commandments and, thus, enables you to unleash your powerful humor nature on every aspect of your life. As you learn to have more fun in your relationships, your work, and your home life, you will rely less and less on food to meet your emotional needs. With the Fun Factor Diet the urge to overeat melts away, along with the excess pounds because you will be using food for its natural purpose - sustenance.

The first strategy of my Fun Factor Diet is to Always Go the Extra Smile. Smiling is a deliberate and controllable behavior that almost always calms inner stress and attracts outward fun. Smiling unleashes the natural medicine of humor anytime and anywhere because it has a profound physical and emotional impact.

And here is the beautifully powerful secret behind the first Fun Factor Diet strategy: your internal physiology is fooled by your smile. Whether spontaneous or forced, your body thinks you're having fun when you smile, whether you are or not, because smiling activates the pleasure centers of your brain. By smiling you literally become more physically relaxed and enjoy a greater sense of fulfillment and enjoyment.

Step two in my Fun Factor Diet is to Be Willing to Laugh at Yourself. This is not a step of humiliation or self-denigration because those things are definitely not fun; it is a strategy of being willing to take yourself lightly. Easing your harsh expectations you impose on yourself, relaxing some of your self-administered pressure, sets the stage for astounding personal gains (or in your case personal "losses")

Freed from the tyranny of your unrealistic expectations, you will be able to relax and have more fun. Things you have dreaded doing in the past will become enjoyable activities because you won't have expectations of perfection. Combined with your commitment to Go the Extra Smile, you will find your use of food to calm and comfort yourself almost extinguished because taking yourself lightly helps you see yourself as, literally, less "heavy."

In the next step of my Fun Factor Diet you Stay Focused, yet Flexible by not engaging in any other activity while you are eating. Activities that have commonly accompanied your eating are to be shunned while putting food in your mouth - including reading, watching television, or socializing at get-togethers. With the exception of reasonable table conversation, eating becomes a focused activity for you, not connected with any other behavior because you are about to halt the underlying cause of your weight gain.

Once you begin disciplining yourself to separate eating from all the pleasurable and stressful activities with which you have associated it, you will discover a disturbing fact: you will be shocked by how much you've been using food as both a stress reliever and a pleasure enhancer. Your weight loss can be dramatic when you change your use of food from pleasure enhancement and stress relief to simple nourishment. You're ready for this change because, with the first two steps, you've already begun to fill your emotional and spiritual void with fun rather than food.

The final step in my Fun Factor Diet will make your weight loss permanent because it centers you in the unique paradigm of lasting success. My Fun Commandment, Practice Wanting What You Have, Rather Then Getting What You Want, increases your awareness of gratitude because it stops the merry-go-round of always needing "more" to feel satisfied. Ongoing gratitude for what you have has the amazing benefit of making it possible to get and keep more of what you want.

Filling yourself up with gratitude is not a platitude, so to speak, because it works in real practice. You eat in excess to fill an emotional and/or spiritual void, not because you are hungry; you eat too much to provide yourself with emotional comfort, fulfillment, and reassurance. The strategy of Practicing Wanting What you Have, Rather than Getting What you Want, actually fills this emptiness in a meaningful, lasting manner because your emotional appetite is satisfied by the things that really sustain it!

Smiling fools your body and attracts socially fun attention, Taking Yourself Lightly releases you from the tyranny of your unrealistic expectations, Staying Focused, yet Flexible teaches you to use food for nourishment rather than fun, and Wanting What you Have allows you to fill your emotional void with fun and gratitude rather than food. There you have it...my Fun Factor Diet. Welcome to a life free from weight worries!

So, here are some simple, easy steps you can take right now to prepare yourself for permanent, painless weight loss.

Subscribe to my Fun Times newsletter. The Fun Times is all about using your natural power of humor to increase the quality of your life - including your physical appearance. The Fun Times is 100% free, and is delivered instantly, every week, to your email inbox. If you sign up now, I'll also throw in a copy of my "Stop Your Seriousness" Ecourse and my book, Ten Ways You Can Be Happier...Right Now! which will show you how you can use my Fun Factor prescription in your life to increase your success!

Check out The Fun Factor. This prescription has changed so many lives for the better - it would be a shame if you passed it up. Check it out here if you're sick of being overweight and are ready to shed those excess pounds once and for all!

By the way, in one of his museums, P.T. Barnum found that he was having trouble getting the crowds to leave once they had seen all the attractions. So he devised a clever sign, elaborately lettered to draw as much attention as possible, which read "This Way to the Egress"

Most of the patrons expected to see some bizarre animal that Barnum had collected from one of the far corners of the earth when they followed the sign through the door. What they didn't realize, however, was that "Egress" is simply another word for "Exit." Funny...and true.

Today you begin your "egress" from excess weight and from all your worries surrounding it. Start using my Fun Factor Diet right now!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

What Do Rodney Dangerfield, John Adams, And Walt Whitman All Have In Common?

2005-01-06T20:59:00.000-05:00

Rodney Dangerfield reflected how we all feel, from time to time, when he said, "I get no respect." Revolutionary hero John Adams eloquently said, as early as 1805, "The rewards in this life are esteem and admiration of others - the punishments are neglect and contempt." A recent Harris poll even revealed, not surprisingly, that "respect from others" is what 76% of respondents said they wanted most.

We've been searching for esteem and respect since humans became civilized creatures. We still search for them today. Why have they proven so elusive?

Respect and esteem are elusive for one reason - if we glean it from others we will always be wanting it. We cannot rely upon others to provide us the respect we seek and deserve so it must, therefore, stem from another source. And you have but one consistent, reliable source of respect and esteem - yourself.

Fortunately, you have a ready reservoir of self-esteem and self-respect - your sense of humor. And you are also fortunate to have a veritable medicine chest full of resources that turbo-charge your sense of humor. My Fun Commandments, the cornerstones of my unique Fun Factor Prescription, allow you to simply and easily maximize the amazingly powerful natural medicine of humor that you were born with and still carry inside you.

One of my Fun Commandments, for example, is to Allow Your Mistakes. Allowing your mistakes is not only a ready-made formula for adding abundant humor and joy to your life, it is also an insanely powerful method of creating and fostering self-esteem and self-respect. As my patients and clients continue to discover, you should be prepared to feel up to 60% better about the person who greets you in the mirror each morning once you begin allowing your mistakes on a daily basis.

First of all, if you allow your mistakes you will find that you're a very amusing person. You are a perfectly imperfect creation, a living breathing contradiction, full of frailties and foibles. You may soon enjoy your mistakes enough to make them on purpose - like the great Johnny Carson famously did on the Tonight Show to keep himself fresh and on his toes.

Secondly, if you allow your mistakes you will become what we psychiatrists call a self-actualized person. The self-acceptance and self-respect found through believing that your mistakes are okay delivers massive amounts of self-confidence; the self-assurance of knowing that you are just like you're supposed to be is finally here! Not only will you quit worrying and second-guessing yourself, but you must learn to temper yourself lest you create jealousy in others.

A great way to begin allowing your mistakes is to follow Johnny Carson's lead, make small ones on purpose. Press the wrong button on the elevator, wear mismatching socks, transpose the names of your pets - anything silly and harmless will do. You will immediately notice how naturally silly you are, how making mistakes causes no irreparable damage, and how ridiculous it was for you to expect perfection from yourself in the first place!

Actually, in the long run, you will discover that you are perfect - perfectly imperfect - and born to make mistakes. You'll finally unlearn the greatest lie that our seriousness ever told us - that mistakes are bad - because you'll realize that mistakes are our greatest teachers! You will set free the natural medicine of humor; you'll throw off the shackles of fear and seriousness that've help you back as you realize that a person who doesn't make mistakes isn't living!

In 1871, Walt Whitman said that in America, where our form of government promotes a uniformity among the citizens, one of our unique anxieties would be a constant struggle for "individual self-respect based upon social approval." Little did Whitman know how prophetic his words were. But you are a more fortunate soul; the more you understand that respect and esteem come from yourself, the sooner you stop denying yourself the natural medicine of humor as only my Fun Commandments can deliver it to you!

See you at my website, where you will learn about all my Fun Commandments - for free.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Avoiding Interaction With Your "Prophetic Bishop"?

2005-01-05T17:06:00.000-05:00

In the late 1800's a bishop of the United Brethren church was interacting with a college professor. The bishop's opinion was that the millennium was at hand. As evidence, he cited the fact that everything about nature had already been discovered and that all useful inventions had already been made. The college professor expressed his belief that man had far to go; he would, for example, one day be able to fly. "What a nonsensical idea," the bishop countered, "Flight is reserved for the birds and the angels!" More on this contentious interaction in a moment...

You have, within your personal chemistry, a pharmacy so powerful that pharmaceutical companies would pay a king's ransom to duplicate it. Your pharmacy is capable of delivering the natural medicine of humor - the most potent and effective pain reliever, stress reducer, creativity enhancer, and mood elevator we've yet to encounter! Engaging your humor, beyond the standard recreational uses, turbo-charges your energy, health, vitality, and success.

With a commitment to act and interact today, you should be prepared for an incredible surge of energy created by the natural medicine of humor you're engaging. Acting and interacting with the people who cross your path today is very important for your health and welfare. So important, in fact, that I've made Act and Interact one of my Fun Commandments - the pillars supporting my unique Fun Factor prescription.

How does acting and interacting with the people you naturally encounter open the floodgates of your natural humor medicine? It allows you to avoid spiritual "flat tires". Spiritual flat tires occur when you sidestep, or avoid, an interaction that is about to naturally occur - you duck into an office to avoid encountering someone in a hallway or you don't answer to the phone because you don't want to talk to the person calling. This type of avoidance drains and deletes your reservoir of insanely powerful energy created by your fully activated sense of humor.

Spiritual flat tires are a result, as are most of the habits which drain and deplete you of your health, vitality, and zest, of your deadly seriousness. Seriousness refers to taking ourselves too seriously; when we make the fatal mistake of taking both our responsibilities and ourselves seriously we are putting our productivity, serenity, peace of mind, and health at great risk. We start taking ourselves too seriously and pretty soon we're dodging a person placed in our path because we think we know best what we need today.

But have you ever noticed that it usually takes you twice as much mental and physical energy to avoid doing a job then it would've taken you to just do it? It also takes twice the energy to avoid acting and interacting with the people you cross paths with because you are, in effect, saying, "I'm going to correct the mistake that nature is making by putting this person in my path and I'm going to be mentally and spiritually negligent so that I can correct nature's mistake." Mental and spiritual negligence have the same effect as physical negligence (isn't it strange how you get tired if you don't exercise?) and if you can afford to allow this much energy to be drained than you have a much bigger reservoir than I!

But spiritual flat tires do more than drain our energy, they are detrimental in at least two additional ways:

We miss out on an interaction with a teacher; nature had a lesson for us, otherwise that person we just avoided would not have been placed in our path. You say that the person you just avoided was a negative influence or would've wasted your time? I know there are legitimate emergency situations where I have to get somewhere, but if I am avoiding people based on my prejudgment of them, I'm cutting myself off from my greatest teachers - other people.

And we all learn tolerance from the intolerant, patience from the impulsive, temperance from the gossip, gentleness from the rough, etc. I am supremely grateful for those teachers and the lessons they give me.

We create a small, nagging spiritual void of dishonesty, the kind of dishonesty that keeps us from laying our heads down with complete peace of mind each night. Our spiritual flat tire is caused by the pothole our avoidance created; the flat tire is a natural consequence, or symptom, of our spiritual dishonesty. The natural consequences of such avoidance clutter our lives with mental and emotional baggage that further drains us of our energy and vitality.

By deciding to act and interact with the people we encounter today, we fully engage our sense of humor. When our sense of humor is thus engaged our personal medicine cabinet is wide open, flooding our body with the natural medicine of humor. We find resilience and creativity, we have a childlike curiosity for life that results in new solutions to old problems, and we find people being attracted to us personally and professionally without them quite being able to figure out why.

By the way, that bishop from the United Brethren church was named Bishop Wright. Bishop Wright was the father of two budding young inventors named... Orville and Wilbur. True story.

Make sure you employ the invaluable skill of acting and interacting. Visit my website today and let me teach about this, and all, my Fun Commandments - for free.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

This Isn't A Bunch Of Coprolite!

2005-01-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

Do you know how paleontologists study what dinosaurs ate? They study fossilized dinosaur poop! This type of fossil is called "coprolite" and it's a very handy way to gain insight into a beast like Tyrannosaurus Rex's diet. More on this later...

There is no denying that what comes out of our bodies was once inside of our bodies. You can also extrapolate this principle to include our spiritual and mental output. Our beliefs, feelings, and attitudes, what comes out of us spiritually and mentally, reflects what's inside of us too.

What do you get when you squeeze an orange? You get orange juice, of course. And why do you get orange juice when you squeeze an orange? Because that's what's inside an orange. Apply this same logic to yourself: what's "coming out of you," emotionally, right now? Why? Because that's what's inside of you!

This is why it's so valuable to be honest in our self-evaluations. So important, in fact, that Tell the Truth is one of my Fun Commandments - the cornerstones of my unique Fun Factor prescription (a prescription, created from my own desperation, for your greatest health and success). Getting in the habit of identifying what's "coming out of you" will help you tell yourself the truth.

It can be intimidating and scary to be honest about what's coming out of us; we may not want to tell ourselves the truth because we think we won't like it. We may even think that finding evidence of fear, worry, stress, unease, tension, avoidance, denial, or other defects somehow indicates that we there is something wrong with us. Please calm your fears: there are no problems with any defects you identify when you are being honest with yourself.

Allow me to explain a much healthier way for you to view the defects you see when you are being honest with yourself. A way that removes roadblocks that limit the insanely powerful natural medicine of humor.

When you tell yourself the truth and you identify results and outcomes that indicate some less than effective spiritual and emotional health inside you, you are being blessed with a look at some symptoms.

You wouldn't consider it a blessing if you were unable to feel pain when your foot is injured would you? How would you know that your foot needed treatment? In other words, you fully understand that the pain in your foot is not the problem, just a symptom of the problem.

The symptoms of ineffective spiritual and emotional health (fear, worry, stress, unease, tension, avoidance, denial, resentment, etc.) are to be treated the same way. These defects are merely symptoms; just like the pain in your foot, they are not the problem either!

These symptoms of mental and spiritual unhealthiness almost always stem from focusing on the things you want (instead of wanting the things you have) and looking for happiness outside yourself. These two problems always stem from your deadly seriousness (taking yourself too seriously), more deadly than cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure combined. But here is great news - your deadly seriousness has a simple and fun cure which I will teach you for free!

The natural medicine of humor, you'll find, provides you complete freedom from your deadly seriousness. That means you're going to be happier, less stressed, healthier, have less pain, have better relationships, experience greater creativity, and feel a child-like energy level. You'll also find yourself becoming "mysteriously" attractive in your social and professional circles - you'll find new friends drawn to you like moths to a floodlight!

But it won't be a mystery to you! When pulled aside and asked, "Do you ever have a bad day? Are you ever unhappy?", you'll smile and say, "I feel the same doubts and insecurities you do, I just discovered what to do about them." Then you'll become that person's hero by referring them to my website to use my Fun Factor prescription just like you do!

So tell yourself the truth. Look honestly at your output! When you identify defects, simply apply the amazing natural medicine of humor.

By the way, paleontologists have found a 17 inch long piece of Tyrannosaurus coprolite with lots of undigested bone fragments in it. This is a clear indication that Tyrannosaurus was not picky about what it ate - it chowed-down on whatever its mouth could reach!

I know you will be more picky about what you put inside you. Learn about all my Fun Commandments and start refining your mental and spiritual "diet" by visiting my website today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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Use The Natural Medicine Of Humor And Yell Your Name Next Time

2005-01-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

It's customary to yell "Geronimo!" before we perform an act of courage. Geronimo, of course, was an Apache leader who spearheaded his people's resistance to the U.S. government. Legend has it that he once escaped capture by jumping off a steep cliff in Medicine Bluff, Oklahoma, defiantly shouting his own name as he fell. More on this later...

Learning a new way of doing things is something that requires courage. Usually, we do not make changes to our life unless we're supremely motivated. That motivation is often caused by our own pain; why would we change something about ourselves unless it has quit working for us?

People seek me out because they know that they could be happier, healthier, and more successful and they usually want me to teach them a new way of doing things that will allow them to reach those goals. They've tried it their way and sometimes have been burned by the self-serving advice of some guru. Fortunately, I have great news for these people - and for you!

Realizing incredible personal and/or professional change using the natural medicine of humor is simpler than you might think. It's simpler because you don't actually need to learn anything new. As you transform yourself with my Fun Factor prescription, you will be reawakening abilities that've merely been dormant, but will lead you back to your healthiest, happiest, and most successful self!

There was a time when you were so resourceful you succeeded regardless of your circumstances. There was a time you were so creative you never lacked the energy you needed to flourish. These abilities, and more, are your birthright and you were meant to have them at your disposal forever!

Get your zest, vigor, and stamina back! Feel as young, vital, and unstoppable as you're willing to allow yourself to feel! You will soon feel a child's unbridled optimism for each day, have a renewed sense of insatiable curiosity and energy for living, and will attract people to you without them being able to quite realize why.

In fact, the more you understand just how valuable the natural medicine of humor is, the less you think about delaying your visit to my website. You'll soon learn all about my Fun Factor prescription - for free!

Geronimo, by the way, eluded capture for over five months and led an estimated 5,000 soldiers on a 1,600 mile chase. Yelling "Geronimo" gained real fame, much later, when American paratroopers shouted it as they jumped during World War Two.

But, for all that machismo, guess what Geronimo's Apache name actually translates to? "One who yawns." Not exactly befitting the man's persona or legend - but certainly a funny, unexpected meaning!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

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Indonesia Needs The Power Of Your Natural Humor Medicine - Now!

2004-12-30T21:56:00.000-05:00

A great way to engage the natural medicine of humor is to help someone. Try doing it anonymously if you really want to super-charge humor's natural medicine! Giving gifts in a loving and benevolent spirit opens your heart and your spirit to the joy and abundance that is your birthright.

We've all been shocked and saddened by the recent tradegies in Indonesia. I pondered what I could do about it - aside from any personal charitable activities I will undertake. I've come up with three great ways for you to help:

First and foremost, I urge you to give. Nothing will make you feel more a part of the solution to these horrific circumstances than donating money (especially when you cannot donate your time and physical labor). One of the best, most reliable places to make your donation is WorldVision.com, a reputable Internet-driven clearinghouse for global charitable donations. Visit WorldVision and make your pledge today.

Secondly, I would like to offer my help as well. If you have been "on the fence" regarding an investment in my unique Fun Factor prescription, please act on your decision to improve your life now. During the entire month of January, I will donate a full 20% of your purchase price to Indonesian aide and recovery efforts. With as many as 2,500 people responding to my offer (less will be a disappointment), you can help send an additional $3,500 to Indonesia.

Knowing that this is a purchase you have been wanting to make (for yourself and/or a friend), change your life and send help to Indonesia at the same time! You may not realize it yet, but in a few short minutes you'll realize you can't put off this vital purchase; simply visit my Fun Factor prescription page today!

Last but not least (by a long shot), send your positive energy and good thoughts! You should never underestimate the power of your positive thoughts; combined with your positive actions(your doctor's orders are outlined above), positive thoughts change the world. Employ your resevior of humorous natural medicine (you are taking advantage of my free lessons, right?) and share that energy with Indonesia right now!

Send this message to family and friends. Or tell them about it personally. Together we can make a difference (and help ourselves in the process)!

Having the motivation to act now and help the victims in Indonesia means that you're already enjoying the natural medicine of humor. You wouldn't be open to this message if you weren't. But please don't make the mistake of only giving and not taking care of yourself too; we must continue to not only honor our blessings, but also nourish the source of those blessings!

Make certain you are taking great care of yourself with humor's natural medicine by visiting my website today!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Principle Seven...It's Not Just For Children Any More!

2004-12-29T22:11:00.000-05:00

Are you familiar with the United Nation's Children's Bill of Rights? Unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1959, this bill asserted the ten fundamental rights of every child. The UN passed this bill because they were urgently concerned about the unmet needs of children. More on this later...

What particularly drew my attention to the UN's Children's Bill of Rights again was Principle Seven: "Teach us well, so that we may lead happy and useful lives. But let us play, so that we may teach ourselves." Quite a powerful statement, in at least two different ways.

First, I must agree that not only is play an essential right of any child, but it's also the best teaching method. Have you ever marveled at the inexhaustible energy level of a child or at the sponge-like learning ability a child possesses? These attributes are a direct result of the high priority of play in a child's life.

Children will turn any activity into a game and playing a game is fun. Fun, in turn, produces a natural medicine that infuses you with an insane level of energy. Look at the energy level of a child and try to dispute these statements!

But let's look at Principle Seven from another perspective. We don't dispute how essential play is for children nor do we deny the powerfully positive impact play has on children's energy, vitality, and health. Yet...why would we deny ourselves these same benefits?

Why don't we, as adults, avail ourselves of the same unbelievable natural medicine of humor? What myth have we accepted as fact that keeps the bulk of humor's natural medicine from turbo-charging our personal and professional health and success on a daily basis? Somewhere along the road to adulthood we started to believe that responsible grown-ups should be serious.

This is a mistake that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. The alternative is more stress, more ill health, less energy, less resilience, and less happiness than we deserve! In fact, the more you understand the consequences the more you find yourself getting excited about the natural medicine of humor and starting to feel the urge to use it now.

How fortunate for you that I teach you to use my unique, proven prescription, for free, on my website. My prescription, The Fun Factor, was created out of my desperation to rekindle energy and happiness in my own life.

Believe me...The Fun Factor works!

No one would argue that every child has the right to food, shelter, education, love...and play. But, so do you! Take advantage of your rights by visiting with me on my website today.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

As Of Today, Your "Rosebud" Might Not Be A Myth

2004-12-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

Remember "Rosebud," the elusive talisman of Charles Foster Kane in George Orwell's classic movie, Citizen Kane? If you've never seen this epic movie, Charles Kane dies unfulfilled, calling out mysteriously for "Rosebud" - despite having lived a life of abundant wealth and accomplishment. The term "Rosebud" has since come to symbolize your heart's desire, that which will bring you the happiness which eludes you.

What is your heart's desire, your "Rosebud"? Strip away superfluous accessories and window dressings like expensive toys or flashy possessions. What would really make you happy?

Actually that is a trick question because nothing can "make" you happy. In fact, if you are counting on something outside yourself to make you happy you can count on winding up like Charles Foster Kane - bitter, lonely, and resentful. You can circumvent this horrible fate, however, by looking for happiness at its true source.

Happiness is found through nothing other than self acceptance. Self acceptance, in turn, is not found through achievement, accumulation, and accomplishment, but through two things: learning to see yourself as a perfectly imperfect person and also through learning to want what you have (as opposed to trying to have what you want). Fortunately the natural medicine of humor is your key to both - and I teach you to maximize this amazingly powerful natural medicine, for free, on my website.

Seeing yourself as a perfectly imperfect creation cannot happen without a strong, frequently employed sense of humor. My Fun Commandments, part of my unique Fun Factor prescription to optimize humor's natural medicine, will turn you into a humor machine. And once you possess the self-actualization inherent in a finely tuned sense of humor, it becomes easy to focus on wanting what you have rather than trying to have what you want.

The paradox of this level of personal success is...once you are focused on wanting what you have, you become open to having what you want. You will be thrilled at your level of personal accomplishment when you acquire humor's natural medicine! Forgotten dreams awaken and you'll find yourself moving in professional and social circles you once only imagined possible.

Implementation of my Fun Commandments becomes a virtual roadmap to success in whatever avenue you wish to pursue. The more you read and learn, the more you become convinced that you are capable of anything. Fear and seriousness, your old stumbling blocks, will no longer hold you back.

As you're reading this, you're beginning to think you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by using humor's natural medicine to create the happiness your heart desires and deserves. While you used to associate happiness with a talisman, some object or possession you could acquire, you will now possess your mythical "Rosebud" and finally attain your elusive desires. You will soon be fluent in my Fun Factor prescription!

Actually, perhaps "Rosebud" is not a myth. Perhaps you have found your "Rosebud" - my website! See you there today.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Seriousness Isn't All It's "Cracked Up" To Be

2004-12-27T08:15:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard of a curate's egg? A curate's egg is a euphemism for something that is part good/part bad. The saying comes from a 19th century Punch magazine cartoon. I'll explain more momentarily...

On my website and in this blog you'll find me railing against seriousness quite frequently. I have good reason to do so; seriousness (taking yourself too seriously) is the leading cause of stress and illness in this country. Seriousness is responsible for more ill health than heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure combined.

But seriousness is a curate's egg. It is very good to take some things seriously. Suffice to say that there is "bad" seriousness and there is "good" seriousness.

Let's take a moment to define bad seriousness. Bad seriousness happens when I'm taking responsibility for any or all of the things I'm not responsible for - namely the results of my footwork. This type of seriousness, thinking that things aren't turning out like they are supposed to, is deadly.

This bad type of seriousness is what I refer to when I rail against it in this blog or on my website. You can recognize this seriousness when you get angry at the way the results of your actions (or inaction) are unfolding in your life. Some of the more common symptoms of bad seriousness include high stress levels, problems with intimacy, wanting to distance yourself from people, irritability, poor health, problems sleeping, unhappiness, and general lack of energy and vigor.

You must rid yourself of this seriousness at all costs. Harboring it is like wearing an anchor while trying to swim laps - you'll eventually drown if you don't get out of the pool. And, unlike my metaphor, in real life you cannot "get out of the pool!"

Getting rid of my own deadly seriousness is exactly how I created my unique Fun Factor prescription! Read all about it on my website.

Now a word about good seriousness - although I advocate taking yourself less seriously, I highly recommend that you take your responsibilities seriously! The ideal state for my patients and clients is childlikeness; childlikeness will put you in abundant contact with the natural medicine of humor. Abdicating your responsibilities, however, is not childlikeness - it is childishness and it will only compound your living problems.

So please understand that I do not teach you to let your responsibilities go, only to ease up on yourself. If you can learn to take yourself less seriously, while still taking your responsibilities seriously, you will be amazed at how socially, personally, and professionally successful you become!

And the good news is that I will teach you how to do this, for free, on my website. Visit today and learn how to crack the curate's egg of seriousness!

By the way, the joke was that a nervous young curate (a junior-level clergyman in Great Britain) was served a bad egg at his Bishop's breakfast table. When asked whether he like the egg, the curate nervously exclaimed, "Parts of it are excellent!"

And so it is with seriousness. After reading this entry you now have a feeling that your problems with seriousness are almost completely solved and you're correct. Don't waste your new energy, visit my website today and begin implementing the amazingly powerful natural medicine of humor!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Don't Laugh At How Gullible Ponce de Leon Was -- We Do The Same Thing!

2004-12-26T09:54:00.000-05:00

Ponce de Leon, one of the earliest Europeans to reach the West Indies, was enticed by the natives of Puerto Rico to search farther north. Incredible stories from the "New World" were common to Europeans - people who existed solely off the smell of apples, for example, or a race of headless people whose eyes, nose, and mouth were found on their torso. Ponce de Leon was told that, on the island of Binini, he would find the fountain of youth. More about that in a moment...

We have an obsession with "more." We're convinced that the grass is always greener on the other side, that somewhere "out there" a far better life waits for us to find it. And, like the search for the mythical fountain of youth, we believe that we can find a shortcut - a magic formula.

How else to explain, for example, the billion dollar weight loss industry? Almost very single person on earth (including me) could lose weight - for free - simply by eating less and exercising more. Yet we spend billions on plans, programs, pills, diets, etc.

I've been fortunate to know and work with some incredibly successful and accomplished people. There exists a common thread among these friends and clients and I'd like to reveal their secret for great achievement. The big secret of a great life of abundance is this: Rather than having what you want, want what you have.

Sound too simple? All great truths are simple, which explains exactly why most of us so often ignore them! We're certain that the answers to such important problems have to be much more complicated than that.

Fortunately, it is easy for you to learn how to want what you have. My Fun Factor prescription, which unlocks humor's natural medicine and is available for free on my website, is the gateway toward the necessary acceptance and gratitude. And, you'll soon discover that wanting what you have actually opens you up...to receive more!

Yes, wanting what you have allows you to have what you want. A paradox. Good thing you'll soon know how to be more flexible, yet stay focused (one of my Fun Commandments you'll learn from my unique prescription for maximum health and success - The Fun Factor).

Of course, Ponce de Leon never found the fountain of youth. Because it doesn't exist. Yet his traipsing through the "New World" revealed the natural splendor of the Florida Keys and the West coast of Florida for his native Spain. So it wasn't a total loss.

As Spain found out, the search for a magic formula can actually produce some incredible byproducts. You, for example, were searching for answers on the Internet and have now discovered the natural medicine of humor and my Fun Factor prescription. The more you think about this message, the more you realize that your life will never be the same because of it.

Visit my website today and return to this blog often for more updates.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

A Near Christmas Tragedy

2004-12-25T14:30:00.000-05:00

Christmas Day and the scene was set for a tragedy...or a comedy. I'm glad I had the choice.

It's beyond cliche to say that Christmas brings out the child in us. I revert to a little boy each year - especially when it comes to presents. I love to give them! But as much as I enjoy playing Santa Claus there is still a part of me that longs for someone to give me that "perfect" present.

Today, building a fire while my Grandchildren played joyously with their new toys behind me, I found myself staring wistfully at the flames. Something was wrong. Self-analyzing, I realized I was feeling sorry for myself. As much as I tried to tell myself I didn't need anything for Christmas, I was sad because I hadn't gotten the big present I was really hoping for.

This scene had seriousness' handwriting all over it! My "inner-Christmas-child" was ready to cry; I had put so much time and energy into making everyone else's Christmas wishes come true and no one cared enough to make mine come true. Actually, let's be honest...my seriousness was telling me that God hadn't cared enough to make my Christmas wish come true.

On the verge of launching into a horrible, depressed mood, I was rescued by the natural medicine of humor. My mood changed instantly and I had a silent, heartfelt chuckle. I didn't laugh at myself, but with myself; I laughed at the absurdity of my thoughts and at how easy it is for me to by seduced by seriousness' siren call of self-pity.

I laughed at my perfect imperfection, at how perfectly silly I am. There I was, feeling sorry for myself - surrounded by loved ones and gifted with everything I need! I've been provided with everything I need for as long as I can remember and see no reason to believe that will change. Perhaps not provided with everything I want, but always with everything I need.

Blessed as I am, I was still momentarily swayed by seriousness. Tempted to focus on not having what I want rather than focusing on wanting what I have. And during that brief period of feeling sorry for myself, I was completely shut off from the amazingly powerful natural medicine of humor.

Yet it was not really a "Christmas miracle" that saved me. It was a miracle of another sort. I was saved by the miracle of humor's natural medicine, and that's a miracle you can start experiencing today!

My humor nature, strengthened daily by my unique Fun Factor prescription, came to my rescue. The natural medicine of humor didn't change my circumstances, but it changed my attitude. Emboldened by humor, I chose to remember my blessings with gratitude and focus on the joyous gifts of life, given so freely to me.

I was able to laugh. And I instantly felt happiness and joy flood my heart. Isn't that how you'd like to respond to your seriousness?

As every word you read travels from this message to your brain, you start to understand just how much The Fun Factor could benefit your life too. Don't delay, visit my website right now. I'll teach you The Fun Factor for free.

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory

Feel Free To Keep The "X"

2004-12-24T22:49:00.000-05:00

Christian or not, have you ever seen the "Xmas" abbreviation of Christmas and thought about how it squeezes out the "meaning of the season"? Would it surprise you to learn that "Xmas" is just as religious as "Christmas" - perhaps much more so? The idea that "Xmas" is a recent and, perhaps, disrespectful, secularlarization of Christmas is a myth. I'll explain in a minute...

The myth of "Xmas" reminds me how important it is to let go frequently. Letting go is so important that it is one of my Fun Commandments. Learn more about how to unlock the natural medicine of humor with this Fun Commandment by visiting my website today.

Letting go does not condone a wrongdoing, nor does it absolve a wrongdoer. To the contrary, even when letting go I would advise you to take precautionary measures to ensure you aren't wronged a second time. You let go for one person's benefit only and for one reason only - you let go for you and you do it for your health and success.

Holding on to anger, not letting go, causes resentment. Harboring resentment is like drinking a poison, hoping someone else is harmed! You cannot afford to place yourself under such adverse, stressful conditions.

In life, as in juggling, success depends less on what we catch than on how quickly we can let go. Failure to let go in life brings the same results as failing to let go in juggling - we wind up with too much to hold and we drop it all. The stress of holding on to everything, of not forgiving and moving on, becomes too much for our humor nature.

You don't need to suffer this fate. You can learn to let go, for your sake and no one else's, and I'll teach you to do just that - for free. The more you read this blog entry, in fact, the more you feel it would be a waste to let this opportunity to improve your health, happiness, and success slip by!

Visit my website today.

To finish my first thought, the word Xmas is not a modern one and it was never intended to be disrespectful. In fact, as an abbreviation for Christmas, Xmas can be found as far back as 1755.

The abbreviation X for Christ has been used since the 12th Century; X is the first letter in Christ's name when written in Greek (XPICTOC). XP, as an abbreviation for Christ, appears often in religious writings from centuries past.

One other thing about "X" and Christ. Historians believe the X in Christ's name (as written in Greek) is where Christians took the symbol of the cross. The cross symbol is not from the crucifixion - the Romans used a T-shaped structure for that form of punishment. So don't ever let anyone tell you that "Xmas" steals the "meaning of the season" again!

Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor

The Natural Medicine of Humor
"Discover a unique, FREE, and incredibly powerful prescription created out of desperation by a (formerly) stressed-out Kentucky psychiatrist"

The Blog Directory