Pulling your hair out . . . screaming profanities . . . banging your head against the wall . . . These are all tempting ways to deal with the everyday situations that drive us crazy. But Nan L. Crockett found a different way to deal with “mom” dilemmas (such as bubble gum stuck to a neighbor child’s backside, and a hole the size of a small car dug into her backyard by her sons and their friends) as well as “grown-up” situations (such as divorce and serious medical diagnoses). She discovered a sense of humor can truly save the day.
In her new book,
Breakaway Laughter: How to Lighten Up—Despite It All, Crockett makes light of life situations most of us can relate to — from spirited children and first pets, to reticent neighbors and conflicting doctors. But, as a stress management expert, she uses these tales of her own life to subtly coach others — making clear the importance of setting boundaries, recognizing faulty reasoning, and realizing what is really important in the scheme of things.
This laugh-out-loud funny book has serious benefits. Crockett demonstrates that sometimes the best way to counter stress is to analyze it or question it — though for the most part it is the ability to laugh that lets us “break away” from what’s stressing us.
“My goals in writing this book are twofold,” admits Crockett in the book’s Preface. “I wish to inspire readers as they tap-dance through this life. I am quite often a terrific example of everything you should not do . . . Second, I just know you can use a good laugh. Feel free to do so at my expense.”
Telling tales on herself (and those she loves), Crockett coaches readers, in effect, to laugh their way to the meaning of life. “Excessive, unresolved stress exacts an emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual toll,” Crockett observes. “We may not see the harm right away. It builds over time, which makes it rather insidious. Expectations management and a healthy sense of humor will diffuse most of life’s challenges. We can look for the ludicrous. Seek out the irony.” We can control our reactions to the events in our lives is a key message readers will take away from this book.
Written in a casual, irreverent style,
Breakaway Laughter is a self-help book that leaves readers laughing and thinking.
Here are some of the stress-management subjects addressed in
Breakaway Laughter: How to Lighten Up—Despite It All
• boundary setting • depersonalizing • diet and stress • allowing dreams • managing expectations • forgiving • recognizing fear • grieving • hot buttons • use of imagery • laughter • martyrdom • stress and medication • perspective shifting • problem assessment • questioning the rules • finding silver linings • socializing • surrender to higher power • taking things personally • transcendental meditation • twelve-step programs • playing the victim • visualizing better ways
