My 4 month old puppy goes berserk in her greetings, meeting us every morning with tail wagging ecstatically, back wiggling and twisting joyfully in her obvious unabashed delight to see us.

Gavin and his mate Smithy from the ‘Gavin and Stacey Show’ have a joyous, energetic greeting ritual that involves hip shaking, hand slapping, swivels and a rhythmical chant. This is carried out with such genuine enthusiasm that passers- by stand and smile.

What greetings will you use today? A saucy grin, a cheesy smile, a colourful ‘cooee’ with manic waving, or a supersonic hug that takes the breath away?

Ok, this last suggestion may be too much for the window cleaner, but who knows?

Let me know your favourite greeting, I would love to hear from you.

Sending joyous greetings to you and yours,

Lisa x

In this highly articulate world that we live in, it is sometimes a relief to speak in a completely daft, non- grammatical way and still connect with another person, just for the fun of it!

Do you remember Bill and Ben the Flower pot men?

Toddlers and young children are experts at speaking in “Gibberish”, a fantasy language made up of a jumble of vowels and consonants and delivered with enthusiasm and great aplomb.

If you look up  ‘Gibberish ‘ on the internet it sometimes stipulates a certain order of sounds and structure to this secretive, fun language, but I am talking about ‘stuff and nonsense’ and  ‘making it up as you go along’ speak.

Do you remember conversing with a mate as a kid in a totally silly manner that both of you instantly understood and no-one could fathom what you were on about but had you in stitches?

If you haven’t tried this for a while a good place to start is over the breakfast table, discussing the forth coming events for the day and passing the butter.

Gibberish is great for dispelling over- the top rows with troubled teenagers over tidying up their rooms and even starting meetings at work by greeting people with a gibberish welcome and a compliment to start the day.

There are various variations to nonsense speaking….try:-

• Gibberish in a saucy French accent
• Speaking as fast as you possibly can as if the words were running out your mouth
• Being a mad professor for 5 minutes (amazing how much we then use our arms and facial expressions)
• Talk in absolute gibberish with a serious expression, then add ‘ha ha ha’ convincingly to the end of the sentence
• Experiment with rhyme and words that make you smile …plop plop, plinky plonky
• Give a friend a word and take turns expanding them to the ridiculous…

Eg. Crum, Crumtastic, Crumdiddlydoodly, Crumdidliyumptious, Crumflangelic

Try the following sentences in your own Gibberish:-

1. I have dropped my earring down the toilet.
2. I would love to help you wash up but I am feeling a trifle faint.
3. He has a pea stuck up his nose.
4. You are looking radiant and beautiful today.

I have been told on occasions that I talk a load of gibberish, and will continue to do so. I leave you with these wise words,

“ Slum incan too toos front a lopsadaisy kerant a tooey.”

Happy Playing!

When you see someone looking quite unhappy and then catch their face lighting up as they exchange a smile with another, you realise something truly lovely is occurring.

It is well documented that it only takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three or so to frown, but smiling is so much more than facial exercise. It’s the universal welcome, the equivalent of an open heart and open arms in our controlled, often repressed society.

A smile informs us from the heart.

“It helps us to know, that even if we are sad about something, we are more than our sadness.” (Susan Jeffers)

Even on a bad day, if we smile at others we get smiles galore in return, restoring our faith in ourselves, in others and the human race in general. Who can resist a smile?

Reminding ourselves of happy times can bring a smile….bring a warm, lovely memory to mind now…make it really colourful and big and close…..step in to the picture as if you were really there, reliving it in all its colourful detail…hear what you heard at the time…see what you saw… feel what you felt…enjoy this memory for a moment or two….how is your smile now?

There are many types of smile, cheeky smiles, saucy smiles, shy smiles, mischievous smiles, surprised smiles, I’ve won the lottery smiles, and you are beautiful smiles….

Try some out today and let me know your favourites, we never know where a smile might lead us…… as Mary H. Waldrip stated “A laugh is a smile that burst.”

I am not advocating we forget about the serious stuff, more that when we remember to laugh with life then we are in a better, stronger position to handle whatever life throws at us.

Taking ourselves seriously is always a danger, when we get caught up in daily struggles and issues that really need a smattering of giggles and often a few full blown laughs to blow then away. Yes, I know worries don’t disappear completely but they definitely seem lighter and smaller when I next look at them!

We all know how it feels to have a real gripe about something, then chat it over with a playful friend and all of a sudden the problem seems to be quite amusing, especially when we exaggerate certain bits and look for the ridiculous amongst the angst.

How many things were catastrophic when they first happened, but then made a really funny embarrassing story to tell people at a later date?

Embarrassing stories are a great way to stop us from taking life too seriously. This week, see if you can remind yourself of one of these cringing moments in your life/career and share with another, swapping tales of embarrassment is a great way to bring laughter to any situation.

Ultimately when life goes pear-shaped, ask yourself these questions:-

• Will this still be monumentally important in 2 years time?
• Can I tell someone about this exaggerating wildly so that it appears even faintly ridiculous?
• Which part of this, if any, can I laugh or smile about?
• If I was a comedy writer or producer how would I turn this into a hilariously funny film?
• If I can’t laugh at the moment, what would it be like if I could?

The serious path is not always the easiest or the most fun…..it’s all about choice at the end of the day.

Remember to have fun with your life, be playful and laugh whenever you want to or need to.

Let me know how you get on, and if you have any embarrassing stories to share then please email me and let me hear them!