Living with a brain injury provides unexpected or uncontrollable situations that wear us out and leave us feeling hopeless. The chaos we create from sunrise to sunset is full of comedy. But, we are not in a position to see the humor in our circumstances, and we surely don't feel like laughing.

Humor is the "magic wand" that:

• distances you from life's happenings 
• cushions you from disappointment and hurt
• helps you to "hang on" when your situation feels hopeless 
• presents an opportunity for you to look at your situation from a different angle 
• opens the door to help you find the "treasures in your trials"
• stimulates laughter

Emotional and mental stress added to the rapid cognitive wear-down from brain injury reduces your ability to accurately assess or logically reason. When you are in the midst of an exasperating moment, you automatically shift into a fight or flight response, turn "dead serious" trying to figure things out, or become paralyzed with fear or overwhelm and shut down. It doesn't naturally occur to you to call on your sense of humor when you are in distress.

Developing your humor habit takes time and requires a 3-D Process:

1. Discipline to STOP - breath, take a step back and distance yourself from the emotion of a difficult situation.
2. Deliberation to shift our focus from our troubles to LOOK - for the absurdity or the irony... or LOOK - for a treasure in that trial.
3. Desire to LAUGH - at the ironies and enjoy the amusement that life and living with a brain injury provides.

Humor triggers the laughter you need to release stressful emotions so you can think clearly and rationally and respond with the best version of who you are.

Humor expands your perspective and stimulates your creativity so you can explore possibilities, discover solutions, and enjoy life more.

Program Outcomes and Benefits -

Participants learn how they can prevent the harmful effects of stress by using Secret Weapon Stress Buster Strategies every day. They learn how to apply Lois' 3-D Hangin' On with Humor Process "when life looks ugly" so they can:

• activate their sense of humor at will 
• distance themselves from their troubles
• cope with frustrations
• take the sting out of disappointment
• release stress
• control anger 
• gain a new perspective 
• make good decisions
• rebound quickly from setbacks 
• refuse to give up
• keep trying to improve their circumstances
• maintain a positive attitude
• see the funny side of a stressful situation
• laugh
• feel happy and
• believe that tomorrow will be better

Program Length: 30-60 minute keynote