Have you ever been told to stop being silly? By a parent, a teacher, a boss, a colleague, a friend, or some other overly serious person? It seems to suggest that being silly is a bad thing, that it is a barrier to moving forward in life. Well, what if we thought about being silly from a different perspective? What if instead of being a bad thing, silly was the new smart?

There is an awesome movie you may have seen with Robin Williams, based on the life of Dr Patch Adams. This rebellious medical student went into hospitals, that were dull, depressing, and serious, and started doing silly things to make the patients laugh. His theory was that laughter truly is the best medicine. He was ostracized, criticized, and rejected by many conventional thinking people who believed his ideas had no intellectual basis. Well, his life, work, and results reflect how right he was and how true it is that silliness and laughter can heal. It sounds pretty smart to me. So maybe silly really is the new smart.

Speaking of hospitals, I was at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne recently to meet up with a friend. Why we chose a hospital to meet, I am not really sure, but I am glad we did. As soon as I walked in, I smiled. In the main entrance area was this wonderful and massive colourful floor-to-ceiling creature that looked part ant, part caterpillar, part monkey, part silly, and large part fun. It was awesome. My first thought was, why is this kind of amazing fun decorative piece restricted to a children’s hospital? Why isn’t something like this in every hospital instead of the drab grey, somber faces, and depressing feeling that permeates most medical institutions. Did we learn nothing from Patch Adams? I do not want to diminish the seriousness of disease, however, I know there would be less sickness, more healing, and more joy, if hospitals, and all other institutions, would buy into this silliness and laughter concept.

Patch Adams said:

Remember laughing? Laughter enhances the blood flow to the body’s extremities and improves cardiovascular function. Laughter releases endorphins and other natural mood elevating and pain-killing chemicals, improves the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to internal organs. Laughter boosts the immune system and helps the body fight off disease, cancer cells as well as viral, bacterial and other infections. Being happy is the best cure of all diseases!

If it seems that the smart money is on silliness, why are we so serious? It’s a big question and there are lots of possible reasons. Rather than reflect on the reasons I am too serious too often, and you may be the same, I would like to suggest that we look at how we add some silliness into life as a part of our health, happiness, and abundance strategy. Let’s face it, who would you rather hang out with, the person who is always serious, at times cranky, and often looking for the problems, or the person who lightens the mood, loves silliness, and makes you laugh? If you chose the first option, then I believe this is not the blog for you.

How can you start adding silly into your day? The first thing I do is schedule silliness into my day. It may be 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or more, but add it to the calendar and treat it as an important appointment. In that time, you can watch video clips or shows that make you laugh. Here is a 6 minute one I love, with comedian Bob Newhart, called ‘Stop it’; Click here. You could identify a person in your life who makes you laugh and talk to that person on a regular basis. You could be that person for someone else, and if that is a challenge for you, find some silly jokes you could tell. If people don’t laugh at the jokes, they will definitely laugh at your attempts to be funny. You could wear funny hats, socks, wigs, or colourful clothes. If you are unsure about how to be sillier, ask your children, or somebody else’s children if you don’t have your own.

Interestingly, just as I was writing this blog, I spoke to a friend and told her about this week’s topic. She is someone I love because of the joy she spreads in the world. She had just gone and got 100 stickers printed with big smiling faces on them. As she goes about her day and interacts with people, if she feels they could do with some joy, she gives them a smiley face sticker, and sure enough, it makes their day. Can you see how simple it is to bring silliness, smiles, and laughter into the world?

There are so many things you can do in your home, your workplace, your club, and your community that can add super smart silliness and laughter. Just make sure it is respectful and not at the expense of someone else’s feelings. If you actually believed that silly is the new smart, and it could significantly improve your life, would you find ways to be sillier? Of course you would, as would I. So, make a vow that from today onwards, you will schedule silliness into your daily life, because it truly is the new smart.