Laughter, Resilience and Staying Hopeful in a Cynical World

The pressure to not be cynical is real. So much so...I went to search for pics tagged 'cynical' in Pexels.com and found....Film Noir pics. Nice. A great laugh for sure. So next time you are cynical, picture yourself in a Raymond Chandler novel.

Here's the reality. Things are probably not OK for many people on some level, personally and professionally. And we don't exactly create safe spaces to express cynicism.

Yet, it's natural to feel that way. If you are not in any way experiencing the slightest bit of sadness and cynicism, you are amazing and let's bottle that.

We need people to be pragmatists. We also need the laughter and resilience. We need to keep trying to do better - to heal ourselves and the world.

No, I am not asking people to be toxically positive. (Ewww....no public displays of toxic positivity fan here).

Staying cynical too long is like sitting down when you're exhausted....you never really want to get back up!

I am suggesting that we need laughter to heal the disconnection and work our resilience muscles. We need laughter and humor to feel hopeful - to heal our own burnout and find joy again.

It isn't easy. We've been taught not to bring humor to work. We've been programmed to think that.

It's not human and we're not robots.

It will take courage and we need it more than ever.

Criticism that leads to things being better can be a great thing. Unchecked cynicism won't help in the long-run. It's human. We need to channel it somewhere. I get it.

Choosing laughter and connection during a time of upheaval feels like a radical act of optimism, connection and self-care. It makes us more productive. It makes us want to keep trying even when it's hard.

For the cynics among us, I get it. We can't pull ourselves up with cynicism; only laughter does that. In the face of the really hard stuff, we always have that choice and laughter is a pretty damn good one. For us, for others, for our souls and healing.

Q: What do you think?

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I am on a mission to help people and companies unlock their natural humor and inner improviser for their own personal and professional transformation. Humor is bigger than you think!

An ex-tech marketing / communications exec who led teams for 16 years and an improviser and stand-up comedian for over 24 years, today I use improvisation and stand-up comedy techniques to transform leaders, (I especially love working with women leaders) and their companies into impactful human communicators who show up, speak up, and story tell playfully and powerfully so they can change their worlds (via my Brave Bold Story and Comedy bootcamps). I am a keynote speaker, Founder of Keeping it Human? and Author of "Stop Boring Me!" I still perform and teach stand-up comedy and improv. My 13 yro used to laugh at my jokes. Now I just knock on his bedroom door, throw red meat in, and run!

From Silicon Valley / Stanford to Second City and Stages beyond - I (and you) have a story to tell and humor is human AF.

You can follow my posts at?#humorforchange . Visit me at my website,?keepingithuman.com. ?OR RING my bell! Aww yeah. >>>>Kathy Klotz-Guest

#storytelling ?#comedy ?#speakingskills ?#marketing ?#leadership