Faking It

Faking It was the title of a popular television show here in the UK several years ago.

In this program people agreed to learn a new skill within one calendar month and at the end of that time to pit their new skills, in front of judges, with professionals in that skill.

Most of the challenges were astonishing.  One I can remember was a member of a ship cabin crew.  She was a pleasant, unassuming girl, with a love for the ocean and boats.  So they took her out of her environment, put her in the hands of internationally known yacht racers who set about teaching everything about yachts, racing and crewing.

At the end of the set time she captained the yacht in a race, and won.  Then she had to convince the judges in an aural test she knew all about yachts and racing.  She’d worked hard, but there was no way she could know the inside details and nuances and yet she faked her way through and convinced them she was a pro.

By faking it she won the challenge set by the program makers.

For a long time now the medical profession have been aware of the value of laughter to prolong good health, but not until Norman Cousins, author of Anatomy of Illness, demanded access to comedy films after enduring surgery many doctors never thought he’d survive did the professional medics accept the true value of laughter.

Meditation can do the same. Simply by deliberately relaxing and laughing out loud you can reduce stress within your system, and begin to build up your health.

You can jump start the process by using meditation to bring laughter into your life.  Find somewhere where you won’t be disturbed and think of children blowing their soap bubbles and laughing as they run after them trying to catch them.

When you settle down to laugh, imagine golden bubbles filling your body and whizzing up until their leave your mouth.  Imagine your laughter rising up and spreading out far and wide.  The more you ‘fake it’ the more real your laughter will become.  And before you know it, you won’t have to fake it any more.