Focusing on having humor with an attitude...

Humor is a powerful emotional medicine that can lower stress and dissolve negative situations. A healthy sense of humor is related to being able to laugh at oneself and one's life. Laughing at oneself can be a way of accepting and respecting oneself. When I was younger dealing with my deafness. It was not my deafness that was causing me problems. The sources of my problem were people around me and how I was coping them. Especially when they tease me about my hearing-aids or others that I often respond with humor which got them off guard with my response by diffusing a power struggle before things gets worst. Humor opens up closed little ears and minds. The more they challenge me with their teases, the more challange I give them in respond and soon they stop teasing and bullying me. We can laugh along with the bullies and that's a very healthy attitude. Hearing problems affect a lot of people. In fact, an estimated 28 million people in America have some form of hearing problem. Now my problems have transferred from my deafness to multiple sclerosis. In the past two years, I was facing stress due to various factors in my life which took a toll on my Multiple Scleorsis symptoms. I know that I am on my own worst enemy when I get sick. Keep in mind, stress is not a cause of MS. Stress and multiple sclerosis seem at times to go hand in hand. Studies have shown that stressful life events can trigger exacerbations in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). A healthy attribute of any of us whether we are disabled or not, is the ability to laugh at ourselves and our unique circumstances. Having the ability to take a light-hearted approach to life will lead to less stress. Stress can’t be avoided. The challenge is for me to keep learning how to reduce the level of stress by using it to work for me, not against, me. Humor and laughter strengthen our immune systems and help us recover from illness, as well as bring joy into our lives. Laughing relaxes the body and reduces problems associated with high blood pressure, strokes, arthritis, and ulcers. A good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at stressful situations helps mitigate the damaging physical effects of distressing emotions that we could be dealing with.