LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND LIVING OUT LOUD

Midlife is the time to live loud, love yourself and others, and laugh every day. Don't waste a moment of this precious life you've been given. #liveloud #midlife

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE

I have a sticker on the back window of my car that says: Live, Laugh, Love. (I thought about getting it as a tattoo but chose to be a little more conservative for now!)  It sums up for me how to make the most of each day - living with joy and appreciating those we love. Without some love or laughter in our life, things are pretty grey and sad. I know that there are times when we lose the fun in life, when we struggle and feel miserable, but that's not where we have to stay. Ultimately we'll move forward, we'll step out of our grief or stress or discomfort and life will bloom again.

Here's why I love those three little words so much.

Live, laugh, love car window sticker

LIVE OUT LOUD

One thing that these last few months have taught me is that life is for living - not existing, not pushing through, not counting down the days until the weekend. When you reach Midlife you realize that you're halfway through the journey of life, and the days are just zipping by. This is the prime of our life and we don't want to waste chunks of it doing stuff that drags us down and sucks the joy out of us. This is our time to be our best selves and to make the most of what we've been given.

I've found that a job that pays well doesn't guarantee satisfaction. Friendships that are one sided are wasting our time. Idling our days away, or conversely - rushing through them, means we miss out on all the snippets of pleasure that are waiting to be discovered. We need to find what makes our hearts happy and make sure we include some of that every day so we're living our best lives. That's what living out loud means to me.

LOVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY

What would life be without love? I'm not just referring to romantic love - although that's pretty special, but to all the different shades of love we can experience if we open ourselves up to others. There's love from our partner, love from our family, love from friends, love from our fur children, and the love we can invest in ourselves.

Previously I would have shied away from the idea of loving myself, but now I find that it's something that I'm wanting to invest more time into. Now that my days are free and I've been brave enough to step away from what was dragging me down, I find that I have the capacity to put some thought and time into finding what makes me happy and engages my heart and mind. The more content I am within myself, the more I have to share with others. The less needy I am, the more others want to engage with me and that's how relationships strengthen and love flows into our daily lives.

LAUGH WITH OTHERS

There's nothing like a belly laugh, or a giggle, or hearing the laughter of a child. Laughter is contagious, it draws us in and lights us up. Happiness is contagious - happy people draw others to them and laughter rubs off onto others. It's so much easier to spend time with someone who has a positive and upbeat approach to life, rather than struggling with those who have no gratitude and no understanding of how blessed they are.

Laugh and the world laughs with you - what a fantastic way to live your life! Surround yourself with people who bring out your laugh, who share your sense of the ridiculous, who encourage you to move past whatever is crushing your spirit. Allow friends to lift you up and to support you when times are tough, and when the sun shines again, it may your turn to give back to them. Laugh together, find the silly things, share a joke, a funny story or whatever is making you smile. That's what I love about Facebook - there's often a little something on there that brings happiness - kittens, puppies, babies, memes - things to share and to enjoy. Life can be tough, but it can also be so joyful - let's make the most of those moments of laughter.

Living out loud means finding what makes our hearts sing and including some of that in our life each day. #liveloud #quotes

WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT LOVE AND LAUGHTER?

What a sad world we'd live in if there were no children laughing, if people couldn't see the humour in a situation, if a funny story didn't bring a smile to your face. I love living in a world that is full of laugh out loud moments shared with the people who are special to me. There's nothing like the feeling you get when someone shares your sense of humour. When all you have to do is look at them and they know what you're thinking and you can see the twinkle in their eye.

The one reminder here is that humour at the expense of others is really not all that funny. I've never understood the need to laugh at someone else's predicament. Mocking and making fun of a loved one is pretty cheap and I think we can do better than that. Shared laughter and shared humour is so much better than one-sided snickering or ridicule. Let's be loving in our relationships and keep our laughter for light hearted moments we can share with those we care about.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

What brings a smile to your face? What lifts your spirits and makes life special? What are you loving about this one, precious life we've been given?

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Midlife is the time to live loud, love yourself and others, and laugh every day. Don't waste a moment of this precious life you've been given. #liveloud #midlife

Midlife is the time to live loud, love yourself and others, and laugh every day. Don't waste a moment of this precious life you've been given. #liveloud #midlife
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26 comments

  1. Brilliant post Leanne - you're really on fire at the moment aren't you?? I love a good laugh and think we all need to lighten up and laugh a lot more. Thanks for your timely reminder and sharing your valuable experience with us :) xx

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    1. Hi Deb - I love all three things SO much - they just lighten life. One good laugh can turn a situation around and choosing to live life out loud is my mantra these days.

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  2. Leanne, I am loving your posts. The post from your job situation hit home and I still have them in my inbox of messages because I keep reading them. I feel the same as you. I live with my daughter and son-in-law and their two sons of which i have for a while. I am single for over 18 years and haven’t dated for many years. I don’t have any friends to do things with because I concentrated on work so much and worked such long hours. At 68 it is really hard to start over but reading your blog is showing me that someone else has had issues. Thanks and please keep up the blog.

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    1. Hi Dianne - I'm SO glad you've been able to relate to my journey - it's part of the reason why I've been sharing the "evolution" here (that plus getting all the churning thoughts out of my head and into some sort of cohesive order!) If you ever want to chat, feel free to send me an email - I love the connections this blog's brought into my life and if we can cheer each other on then that's half the battle won isn't it? xx

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  3. Leanne, you are living proof that happiness is an inside job! The results of your soul searching coupled with your beautiful writing skills have given us much to ponder. Keep it up, you are on a roll..

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words Suzanne - this unexpected set of life events has certainly tested my mettle, but at the same time they've shown me what's important - and it's not the $$ or putting up with crap, it's self-care and doing and being my best. I just hope writing it down has encouraged others along the way :)

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  4. Hi Leanne, The word "time" is coming up (again) in my life. A few years ago, it was my word of the year. This is one of the reasons I enjoy blogging. You make me stop, think and re-evaluate where I am in my life and my priorities. I appreciate you taking us through your journey, Leanne. I extra like the phrases "hearts happy" "hearts sing" "loving myself." A beautiful, positive post that will create a ripple effect into our Universe:)

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    1. Hi Erica - I love having a happy heart again - after slowly being beaten to death mentally and emotionally, it's lovely to recover and come back into the sunshine. This post is a bit of a reflection of that, and I'm glad you enjoyed it too xx

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  5. Live out loud - absolutely yes! Have a fab week...

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    1. It looks like you'll be doing that at your girls weekend away Jo - have fun!

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  6. Hi Leanne, where would we be without Love and Laughter in our Lives? I agree these three words are so important and if we have those in our life then we really want for nothing. I never thought that being a Nan would bring the depth of love that it has. Such a special feeling and one I am honoured to have. I just love and laugh with Ethan and Elliot and they have brought so much light into my life. Have a wonderful week and I'm pleased to hear you are having more time for self love - we all need that xx #lifethisweek

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    1. I should have added "Light" to my list of "L" too Sue - because you're right, those grandbabies add so much light into our lives don't they? And it's so nice to be back in a place in my head and heart that's lighter and full of laughter these days - so much better than where I was this time last year!

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  7. Appreciating and valuing yourself initially enables you to extend that love and care to those around you. If we can start every day with optimism and a smile it's infectious. A beautiful post thank you.
    Pamela x

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    1. You're right Pamela - it all comes back to not being able to pour from an empty cup doesn't it? And if we want to see love and laughter then a great place to start is with ourselves.

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  8. I need to do ALL of these better. I've been in a slump lately as you know but I like to think I'm kinda confronting how I've been feeling to slowly dig myself out of the hole. And I certainly need to laugh more. xx

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    1. When you're caught in a hole it's really hard to do the whole live, laugh, love thing Deb (speaking from experience) but when you dig yourself out and find your sunshine again it all gets easier. So I'm wishing for some sunshine to come your way xx

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  9. My mum always says "live well, laugh often, love much" so your post really resonates with me. I concur wholeheartedly. I think the 3 L's really are the secret to a healthy, happy life!

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    1. When you're experiencing them you wonder how you ever managed for the times when they got lost Sam - I treasure them now and the sheer joy of simply being happy and having a laugh - life's good!

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  10. Leanne, your thoughts on 'love' in this post are so relevant to where I am right now. It's a work in progress - learning to love who you are.

    SSG xxx

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    1. I'm still getting there too SSG - but learning that it's okay to care for yourself and to pour from a full cup is the beginning of a much more balanced life isn't it?

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  11. This has reminded me to do more of what I love, to make time for me. It is only then I can do love and laugh well xx #lifethisweek

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    1. Me Time is a huge one and something I'm covering on the blog in a couple of weeks when I have a guest writing it. We need to allow ourselves a little time out now and then don't we?

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  12. So very true . In our long married relationship laughing together is one of the best experiences!

    Thank you for linking up for #lifethisweek and next week's optional prompt is Worst Job. Hope to see you link up again. Denyse.

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    1. I love that my husband and I share a similar sense of humour too Denyse - there's nothing like exchanging one of "those" looks to know that your other half sees the humour in a situation too!

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  13. Ahhhh what a lovely post to read Leanne! I agree wholeheartedly - love, laughter and living out loud make life so much nicer. At the moment I am looking forward to beaches and beautiful nature (including roaming kangaroos) over at Stradbroke Island - which is where I'm headed on Monday. I'm also going to enjoy the time with one of my sisters and her two kids and one of their friends. It will be so nice to stop, be present, relax, laugh, and have fun! :-) xo

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  14. I'm all about little things and little moments that make me smile the most :_

    My Corner of the World

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Thanks so much for your comment - it's where the connection begins.