Anytime I laughed at something unexpected I’d immediately erase the smile off of my face. It was maddening to be out of control.
I hated how my emotions would suddenly take over and send the upward-arch signal to my lips. I fumed.
DO NOT LAUGH. HOLD IT IN – I’d tell myself.
The list is far from short, however, I’m very confident this laughter rule makes it to the top 10 of the stupidest thoughts I’ve ever had.
The cherry on top is that I adhered to this rule for 22 years.
Fun fact: the average human brain weight ranges between 1.200 gr and 1.320 gr.
That would place my no unplanned laughter rule at 120 gr. In other words, I carried around almost two and a half baby frogs of stupidity, or 120 pen caps, or 24 credit cards.
It doesn’t sound like much, but put into perspective, 4.2 grams of ketamine could kill you.
I have neither proof nor doubts that the cause of death of millions of humans throughout history is related to an overdose of stupidity.
I could’ve been one of them, but I wasn’t. At least not yet.I have my therapist to thank for it.
The cloud still follows me everywhere, but our little pact is over. Se acabó. Es ist vorbei. C’est fini.
I get to laugh and smile whenever I want to. It doesn’t hurt to hold it in anymore.
My heart is lighter, and my brain freed up its capacity by 12% (if you’re into math don’t even bother checking if my percentage is right because it’s not. And if it is, we’ll, then I wasted five to ten seconds of your life).
I am free of 2.4 baby frogs or 120 pen caps, or 24 credit cards.
Hopefully this 120 gr of new space won’t be occupied by a tenant of the likes.
In 2023, one of my goals is to be the master puppeteer of my intrusive thoughts, at least a good 30 to 40 percent of the time. They cannot be avoided, but I won’t entertain them.
What about you, what don’t you want to entertain this year?