How Your Brain Makes You Blind

By Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
"It all starts with a SMILE"

Did you know that you are blind for approximately forty minutes
a day? Forty waking minutes? I'll explain why in a moment...

Two weeks ago we discussed a commitment to being playful.

Being playful requires a commitment to take yourself lightly. No
matter your circumstances, taking yourself lightly makes you
more creative, resourceful, adaptive, responsive, and
resilient. Not a bad return on your commitment to be playful
today, huh?

When you're playful you're also letting go of your deadly
seriousness; you're letting go of your outdated notion that
getting serious is the way to get your responsibilities taken
care of. How many times, after all, have you heard or said,
"Okay, let's get serious now." Seriousness is so strongly
ingrained that it's become a mantra for you.

A mantra that, unfortunately, is killing you. Need I reference,
once again, that 80% of your doctor visits are stress-related? And
need I remind you where that stress comes from? You taking
yourself seriously, of course! Which mind set will lead you to
greater health and success: single-mindedness, scarcity, and
pressure or creativity, abundance, and freedom? It's still
going to be your call, but I recommend being playful today!

But how do you remain playful at all times? Good question,
because there are many occasions where laughter and joking are
not appropriate or welcome. It's important to remember that
your playfulness need never be expressed externally.

I want you to turn tasks into games. You can also play with the
words you hear and read. In addition, you can turn scenarios
upside down; imagine that your boss is actually a custodian when
she's making her presentation. None of these tactics for
playfulness may be extraordinarily funny, but that's not why
you're doing them. You're being playful to be less serious,
happier, and more successful.

I've shared before how my son, Greg, has used being playful to
stay healthy and successful at his work. But this example bears
repeating: Greg is a high school assistant principal, a
disciplinarian, and there are many occasions, such as field
trips, dances, and pep rallies, where Greg supervises large
groups of rambunctious teenagers. Refusing to become a mean
"hockey goon" and wear a scowl, Greg makes a game out of such
occasions.

Greg will pretend to be James Bond, looking for dangerous
international spies, as he chaperones a large crowd. At other
times, Greg pretends he is a shark swimming alongside schools of
tuna. These games are always private (until now, I guess); all
someone else sees is Greg doing a great job supervising and
disciplining teenagers. But Greg is having fun and enjoying
himself in a potentially high-stress situation.

And about being blind - it's the result of a phenomenon known as
saccadic masking.

Your eye movements are not smooth - they are actually faster and
shakier than the most nausea-inducing hand-held camera. If you
brain processed what your eye recorded as it jerked about all
day long you would be puking all the time. So what your brain
does is blind you to the mili-second of visual stimuli you get
as your eye jerks from one thing to another. And your eyes jerk
around so often each day that those split-seconds add up to a
little over forty minutes of blindness today!

Take some time this week and share the games you create out of
your stressful, mundane, or serious circumstances.

Your Attention Please!

Become a happiness machine today! Announcing Dr. Kuhn’s
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Self-awareness is what allows humans dominion over the earth, not
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Some Humor to Help You Smile

Woody Allen

"I'm just not good with computers. I remain not good. I had to
call up the tech support guy this week, get some help with the
home computer. He starts asking me questions, 'What kind of
operating system have you got there, sir?' 'Uh, electricity, I
think. Yeah, I've been plugging into my wall. I've been having
some luck with that.' "

Jeff Caldwell

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Cliff Kuhn, M.D.
The Laugh Doctor
7406 Wesboro Road
Louisville, KY 40242
"It all starts with a SMILE"