Live Life Amazed and Amused

What's the difference between a puppy and a surgeon? "A puppy eventually grows up and stops whining," cracked Karyn Buxman, RN, MSN, CSP, CPAE, to open the conference's second day. The humorist and former OR nurse believes the secret to enjoying the good and enduring the bad in this rollercoaster called life is to live each day with the intention of being amazed and amused.

"Seek a laugh from someone at least twice a day in order to build a stockpile of humor," Ms. Buxman told the entertained audience. That stockpile will help you deal with oxygen-suckers — people who complain about anything and everything — and the curveballs life is sure to throw your way.

You can manipulate your environment or your mindset when things don't work out as planned, said Ms. Buxman. "Humor is derived from what drives you nuts," she explained. And remember, the negative in your life offers opportunity for improving it.

Connecting humor to health care and healing develops community among your staff and with your patients. Where do you fall on the bell curve of humor? Are you the Jim Carrey of your workplace, always trying hard to make people laugh? Or do you crack yourself up constantly, but look around to see that you're the only one laughing? Or perhaps you're humor-impaired, someone who doesn't understand what everyone else finds so amusing.

Whether you're a laugh riot or prefer to chuckle quietly to yourself, there's a place for humor in your life. "It's more important to recognize funny than to be funny," said Ms. Buxman, who recalled what "Patch" Adams once said: "Play needs to be nothing more than a twinkle in the eye."

Above all, don't be afraid to laugh at yourself when overwhelmed with the daily grind. "Forget work seriously," advised Ms. Buxman, "but take life lightly." She recalled the morning she heard a loud thumping coming from her young son's room minutes before he had to catch the school bus. After opening the door and seeing her son bouncing on the bed in his underwear, she screamed incredulously, "What are you doing? You need to get dressed!" Her son kept jumping. "I know," he told his exasperated mom. "But shouldn't getting dressed be more fun?" His childlike exuberance was infectious. Shouldn't all of life be more fun?

Ms. Buxman thinks humor and positive emotions lead to more success, and more significant and happier lives. She said living a life full of amazement and amusement could be boiled down to this: How can you spend more time with the people who make you feel good?

— Dan Cook