C’mon, Let’s Laugh! I


Marilyn Sprague-Smith, M.Ed., CLL


“Greeting the unexpected with a sense of wonderment and awe creates a positive environment for discovery.”


was hurrying through my early morning routine, multi- tasking in order to get everything done and be on time for a breakfast meeting. I had one more task – walking my


dogs. When I opened the front door, a surprise greeted me.


Sometime during the night, yesterday’s balmy weather became a turncoat. And crisp, crunchy, cold winter showed up in its place. The neighborhood was decorated with a blanket of new fallen fluffy white snow, covered with a razor-thin sheet of ice, kind of like a sugary glaze on Krispy Crème donuts. “Oh great,” I thought, “just what I didn’t need this morning.” Spirit and Precious, sensing something was different, halt-


ed their eager lunge down the stairs. They both plopped down at the top of the stoop. With tails wagging back and forth, they greeted this new phenomenon with a sense of curiosity and wonderment. No amount of coaxing could move them for- ward. From their overseer’s position, sniffing the air was a first step in assessing a mysterious development. Precious, our young female Shi Tzu, was the first to jump


into action. Down the stairs she sprinted. Spirit, our male Bis- hon, was right behind her, until they got to the edge of the driveway. There, he skidded to a halt, while Precious took a flying leap into the snow, landing on all four paws. She shook herself vigorously and gave Spirit a glance, like


extending an invitation to come and play. He didn’t budge. Undaunted, Precious assumed her running position—hun- kered down to the ground, ears tucked back, tail positioned like a spoiler on the Nextel series race car. She didn’t need anyone to tell her to start her engine. Within seconds, a robust pattern of paw prints sprinkled the snow blanket in our front yard. A black and white blur of fur was all I could see and a stream of hearty panting was all I could hear. Amidst her fre- netic pace, she stopped abruptly, tended to her business and made a beeline for the door. I started laughing as I watched this tiny creature express such joy while taking care of busi- ness. Spirit continued to watch from the sideline. With Precious back in the house, it was time to convince Spirit to tend to business. The ice crust was broken, yet he was still sitting on the side-


line peering at the trail-blazed terrain. It took some encourage- ment before he began to gingerly place his poofy white paws into the snow. It must have been OK, though, because soon he was head down fanny up, with his snout rooting through the powdery substance. Temerity melted into hesitant exploration. Halfway across the yard, he took bold action. With a thrust of his nose, a shower of snow surrounded him. His confidence was building. Wagging his tail, he tried it again. The next time, he started chasing after the snowflakes when they were air- bourne. Over and over again, he rooted through the snow, thrust it in the air and seemed to be laughing as he panted and growled at the snow. For the second time that morning, I started to laugh out loud. Soon, Spirit took care of business


MARCH 2007 23


and we went indoors and I made it to my meeting on time. Here’s what I learned that


morning from Precious and Spirit. Greeting the unexpected with a sense of wonderment and awe creates a positive environment for discovery. And I learned it’s okay to have different ap- proaches to something new, that there is no one best way for taking care of business. And that taking time to laugh and play helps us get the job done in a timely manner. How about you? Are you letting play and laughter into your conference room, board room, mail room, or any room at work? I promise you, laughter helps to build our courage and to make the unknown a friendlier place. C’mon, Let’s Laugh!


Marilyn Sprague-Smith, M.Ed. is an award-winning speaker, author, trainer and certified laughter leader. She is one of only six people in the world authorized by The World Laughter Tour to deliver laughter leader certification training. For more infor- mation about her keynotes, laughter exercise programs and certified laughter leader training, visit www.miraclesmagicinc. com or e-mail marilyn@miraclesmagicinc.com.


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