A presentation given to compatriots of the unemployment ranks.

1. Unemployment and our attitude.
Phil Svoboda
For PETAG
January 10, 2012

2. Twins: Optimistic vs. Pessimistic
which attitude fits you?

3. Laughter is good for you

4. Research has shown that the health benefits of laughter are far-ranging. While more studies need to be done, studies so far have
shown that laughter can help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and even increase immunity.
Stress Management Benefits of Laughter:
• Hormones: Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine and growth
hormone. It also increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins, and neurotransmitters. Laughter
increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. All this means a stronger
immune system, as well as fewer physical effects of stress.
• Physical Release: Have you ever felt like you "have to laugh or I'll cry"? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a
good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.
• Internal Workout: A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, leaving
muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart.
• Distraction: Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than
other mere distractions.
• Perspective: Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a 'threat'
or a 'challenge'. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as 'challenges', thereby making
them less threatening and more positive. (For more on changing your perspective, see this article on cognitive reframing.)
• Social Benefits of Laughter: Laughter connects us with others. Just as with smiling and kindness, most people find that
laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more,
and realize these benefits as well. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can reduce their stress levels, and
perhaps improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more!
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/laughter.htm

5. Public library catalog search for books
Get a grip! : overcoming stress and thriving in the workplace by Losyk, Bob.
Tai chi. Chigong. Yoga -- What's food got to do with it? Stress and the brain connection. What's
eating you? -- Tackling stress with a tickle. The benefits of laughter. Letting more laughter into your
life. Employees just want to ...
Breakaway laughter : how to lighten up-despite it all by Crockett, Nan L., 1956-
Stress management. ... Acton, Mass. : VanderWyk & Burnham, 2005. ... Breakaway laughter : how
to lighten up-despite it all / Nan L. Crockett. ...
The best of Loretta LaRoche by LaRoche, Loretta
as well as the latest research in the fields of psychology and mind-body health, Loretta unveils
simple techniques for living a life filled with laughter, compassion, and delight; parenting with a
sense of humor; surviving stress in the workplace; and really celebrating each waking moment. ...

6. Google Search
Showing results for laughter and stress
Search instead for laghter and stress
Scholarly articles for laughter and stress
Laughter and stress - White - Cited by 33
… effect of mirthful laughter on stress and natural killer … - Bennett - Cited by 90
Laughter and stress in daily life: Relation to positive … - Kuiper - Cited by 34
Search Results
1. Stress relief from laughter? Yes, no joke - MayoClinic.com
www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-relief/SR00034Cached - Similar
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humor.
2. The Benefit of Laughter - How Laughter Can Reduce Stress and ...
stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/laughter.htmCached - Similar
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stress, increase pain tolerance and support the immune system, as well ...
3. Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Health Benefits of Humor
www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htmCached - Similar
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and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this ...
4. The effect of mirthful laughter on stress and natural killer cell
activity.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12652882Similar
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Altern Ther Health Med. 2003 Mar-Apr;9(2):38-45. The effect of mirthful laughter on
stress and natural killer cell activity. Bennett MP, Zeller JM, Rosenberg L, ...
5. Manage Stress With Laughter | LIVESTRONG.COM

7. • Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit.
~Author Unknown
• Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and
exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less
cleaning up to do afterward. ~Kurt Vonnegut
• Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an
event, deal with it and then move on. ~Bob Newhart
http://www.quotegarden.com/laughter.html

8. mirth (noun)
1. gaiety or jollity, especially when accompanied by laughter: the excitement
and mirth of the holiday season.
2. amusement or laughter: He was unable to conceal his mirth.
laughter (noun)
1. the action or sound of laughing.
2. an inner quality, mood, disposition, etc., suggestive of laughter;
mirthfulness: a man of laughter and goodwill.
3. an expression or appearance of merriment or amusement.

9. laughter
mirth attitude mirth
laughter

10. GROUP PARTICIPATION LAUGH

11. Joke telling time

12. Reasons it is great to be unemployed
• You have a ready response to telemarketers. I am unemployed and don’t have any money. Would you like
to help me out?
• You can actually stop and smell the roses, or the coffee, or the backed up sewer; what ever floats your
boat.
• The birds you see are flying in your back yard and not the middle digit of the irate commuter in the car
next to you.
• You can have a leisurely conversation with the nice crossing guard ladies at your child’s elementary school.
• If you are a father, you have time to volunteer at the PTA and hang out with the parents of your child’s
classmates.
• You don’t have to worry about getting the perfect holiday gift or celebratory gift.
• Friends buy your drinks for you.
• You don’t have to practice good hygiene every day.
• Your clothes last longer.
• You don’t have to change your clothes to go to bed or when you get out of bed.
• The snooze button has no relevance.
• You no longer are obligated to endure Special High Intensity Training (S.H.I.T.) *
• NUMBER ONE REASON: Having fun with my son!!! Who happened to help me pick out the jokes.

13. Advice going forward
• When reviewing job requisitions consider the interpretations of the
“Corporate Lingo” key words.
• When interviewing and answering those tough questions about your prior
employment consider the notes from the “Employment History” narrative.
• When your next prospective employer is answering your
questions, consider the interpretations of “Language of work”.
http://www.bitoffun.com/jokes_office.htm

14. The 8 Keys to Becoming Wildly Successful and Happy written by Harry Olson
Leave it to Providence. State your goal as an affirmation. Repeat it and visualize it daily. Write
it on cards, get or draw a picture of it. Look at it frequently. Then leave the details to your
subconscious, and to the Universe. This method works well when you aren’t sure of what you
have to do to reach your goal.
A young man started writing out “checks fly into my mailbox” 50 times a day. During
that time, as a sideline he’d been writing a weekly column for his small-town newspaper. One
day a friend invited him to a party. He went reluctantly. At the party, he met a publisher who
took interest in his articles and offered to publish them as an anthology. As the book sold, checks
flew into his mailbox.

15. Here comes my job

16. Bibliography
Ross, Dave and Jared Chapman. Barrel of Monkeys Super Silly Joke Book. New
York/London: Sterling, 2008.
Rosenbloom, Joseph and Hans Wilhelm. The Hans Wilhelm Treasury of Jokes. New
York: Sterling, 2009.
Freymann, Saxton and other. Knock, Knock! New York: The Penquin Group, 2007.
Hurley, Matthew M, Daniel C. Dennett, and Reginald B. Adams, Jr. Inside Jokes Using
Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2011.