Laugh. Think. Cry.

Three daily exercises in thought and emotion that contribute to a fulfilling life.

What makes a day good? The successes you experience? The connection you form with someone new? Is it a bonus you are rewarded from your employer for a job well-done? Is it just a peace that saturates your soul, drenching your being in newfound confidence and optimism?

Sure, there are those achievements and milestones that define a day as good. However, these can be few and far in between. Continual success is elusive if not impossible. We cannot solely hitch our hopes for happiness and satisfaction to external goals that are largely influenced by factors outside of our direct control. 

We can instead strive to feel things that require no outside validation. Daily exercises in thought and emotion that contribute to a fulfilling life. It serves us well to slide up and down the emotional spectrum–to be deliberate in carving out time for laughter, thought, and awe in our busy lives.

To laugh, think, and cry each day can fill us like no professional success or material acquisition can. And the best part is that we can intentionally access each of these affective notes on our scale of being. In playing each one, there is a symphony to our day–songs of substance that rise into a crescendo of exquisite joy.

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”

Jim Valvano, 1993 ESPYS Speech

Laugh.

Nothing releases tension in our bodies like a deep-belly laugh. This sensation is even more pronounced when we are laughing with others. 

Humor is disarming. With comedy, embarrassment can be converted into delight–rather than hide our humiliation, we can contribute it to a potluck of guffaws and giggles. Something about laughter has always been liberating to me. By no means should we be flippant or insensitive, particularly with someone else’s trauma or misfortune, but sometimes it is healing to dress something unfavorable in the more benign clothing of humor.

I’ll tell you right now–there is nothing better than rolling on the floor in hysterics with a good friend. Comedy, for all its frivolity, can be fodder for connection. And in all the doom and gloom, levity is not only medicinal, but it can shake off the paralyzing dread that hampers our various “world improvement projects.”

We must make time for laughter lest we become a tight wad of worry.

Think.

When was the last time you drifted off in contemplation? When you temporarily stepped away not only from other people but also that ringing, dinging, pinging block of distraction we call a smart phone? 

Was there even a “last time”?

With the world running at such a fast and furious pace, tapping the brakes for thought and reflection has become all the more important. These moments rarely present themselves to us; instead, we must deliberately stake out time for contemplation.

In the algorithmic wildernesses of our digital world, our agency is constantly being eroded. But when we temporarily abandon the digital for the nourishment of deep thought, we restore and build our autonomy. 

You may ask, “But what if I can’t think of anything to think about?” That’s perfectly okay. Our culture has condemned boredom as something to be avoided or even feared. Of course, companies and even political regimes don’t want us to make space for our own thoughts. The campaign launched against boredom is largely to protect the interests of the powerful.

Creativity blooms in boredom. Critical-thinking is fostered when our minds are given respite from the war of words and tumult of opinions. Of course, this does not mean we unplug from current events entirely. Living under a rock is just ignorance, but we cannot allow ourselves to continually spin in the blender of bluster and bombast. 

So occasionally retreat from the chaos and commotion to ponder. Get lost in thought, so you don’t lose yourself to the whims of the world.

Cry.

We need to invite awe into our lives. Something that moves us, causing us to transcend our current understanding of the world. When awe rushes in, we are purged of self-centeredness and lifted into an aerial view of beautiful interdependencies.

To recognize and be brought to tears by the immensity of the world and the infinity of the universe is so life-affirming. We break out of our confinements of selfishness and leap into a state of abundance and generosity. 

We are starving for awe–for brushes with the sublime that show us the worth of our and others’ existence in the vividest terms. 

So let me make it easy for you to get today’s dose of awe. I invite you to watch this video of legendary college basketball coach Jim Valvano’s 1993 ESPYS speech. Will it make you laugh? Probably. Will it make you think? Most definitely. Will you shed a tear or two of awe? I hope so.