1. When I was stranded in Puerto Galera.
2. When Storm Ondoy hit Manila.
3. When I went to a Birthday Party in Laguna.
Five Long Years.
Just imagine the stress in a life of a Call Center Agent. We don't exaggerate when we say we feel chest pains during calls. You don't just sit there and talk to customers. How-I-Wish it was that simple. Reminds me of those days when I dream of being a DJ where I would simply introduce a topic and engage a normal interesting conversation with my radio partner and at the end of the show play some feel good music. But na-ah. It was nothing like it. You have an unending list of components and criteria to reach and while you struggle to meet these factors to impress the clients and satisfy your boss, you are forced to be nice to unbelievably annoying people.
A Directory Assistance Specialist is most likely to receive five hundred to six hundred calls a day. Out of these six hundred calls, five hundred and fifty of the customers are either cursing at you or cursing at the service. Twenty Five of them are nonchalant. And the remaining twenty five of them had simply dialed the wrong number because they are either drunk or plain horny.
But I always come to work on time and manages to finish the shift with a wink. Unbelievable.
So, I was thinking. How come this new job of mine is making me sick all the time? How come in a span of six months, I already had two absences, one attempted early leave and one adjusted late schedule due to constant hyper-acidic drama?
It's not that I did not get sick when I was at my previous job. I did. Several times. But I had never made hyper-acidity an excuse to not to go work. It was probably the SICK LEAVE BONUS that we get whenever we get perfect attendance or the guilt that I am jeopardizing my team's performance that enabled me to go to work DESPITE OF.
But you know what I really think it was? LAUGHTER. I had no savings whatsoever when I left the company. I was overly broke. But guess what? I look into my pocket and I have a five year worth of LAUGHTER that made me through the day when I left the company. I had confidence and self-esteem. I LOVE MYSELF and I WAS HAPPY.
The night I left the company. The moment I stepped out of the RCBC Building, the ultimate skyscraper in the Metro. I did not see a tower. I saw a house. A home. A place where I lived for five long years with people who I considered my FAMILY. And not each day that they did not bring me JOY.
Every 15 minute break, I go to the pantry and look for familiar faces. It does not seem a healthy thing to do but we would pissed about our customers and laughed at the silly, often disturbing, crazy scenarios that happened during the call. There are TONS of stories being recycled every day. We don't run out of things to pissed about or laugh about. It's AMAZING.
And then this new world of silence was introduced to me. My new job- where customers were so professional, they would hardly express their discontent. And if they do, they would still treat you with respect and courtesy. What else can I ask for? I am finally stress free! But the world of EMAIL and PUBLISHING is DIFFERENT. They are simply strangely quiet. And I was not used to it. I missed VOICES. I missed the NOISE. Most of all I missed LAUGHING.
I eat alone. I work alone. I go home alone. It's tragic.
And my body refuses to go to work. It doesn't want to be alone. My ears are bored. My eyes are strained. My skin is dry and so is my hair. Even my toe nails looks sad- it has a red one month old polish which makes my feet looked as if I had just gone hiking. It was as if I had lost an appetite for LIFE. I had consumed all my five year worth of laughter. I was drained.
What do we do when the batteries of our cellphones drained? We re-charge it. There's no such this as LAUGHTER SHORTAGE. It's free. All we have to do is get up from that sad grumpy pathetic phase we are going through, take a long bath and FIND OUR HAPPY PLACE AND BE WITH OUR HAPPY FRIENDS.
Laughter is not something we do when we feel like it. Sure. Happiness happens in fine weather and sometimes it doesn't. But we always have to make a conscious effort to LAUGH EACH DAY and JUST HAVE FUN. Our senses NEEDS IT.
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Physical Release:
Have you ever felt like you "have to laugh or I'll cry"? Have you experienced the cleansed feeling after a good laugh? Laughter provides a physical and emotional release.
Internal Workout:
A good belly laugh exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and even works out the shoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed afterward. It even provides a good workout for the heart.
Distraction:
Laughter brings the focus away from anger, guilt, stress and negative emotions in a more beneficial way than other mere distractions.
Perspective:
Studies show that our response to stressful events can be altered by whether we view something as a 'threat' or a 'challenge'. Humor can give us a more lighthearted perspective and help us view events as 'challenges', thereby making them less threatening and more positive. (For more on changing your perspective, see this article on cognitive reframing.)
Social Benefits of Laughter:
Laughter connects us with others. Just as with smiling and kindness, most people find that laughter is contagious, so if you bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you to laugh more, and realize these benefits as well. By elevating the mood of those around you, you can reduce their stress levels, and perhaps improve the quality of social interaction you experience with them, reducing your stress level even more!
via About.com
via About.com
The Preacher in Jeans said that when we're sick, it only means 2 things:
1. Either we have too many negative emotions.
2. We have less positive emotions.
It's Math. Basically we have to increase our positive emotions. And if possible, REMOVE ALL the negative ones.
LAUGHTER IS NOT JUST SOME EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY. IT IS A PRIORITY.
SO LET'S GIVE IT A SHOT.
♥ Watch Romantic Comedies and TV Series like FRIENDS or HIMYM.
♥ Make time to go out with your FRIENDS
♥ Call a Friend
♥ Join some clubs or Make One!
♥ Organize an Activity!
♥ TRAVEL
♥ Pray and Praise
♥ Talk to your Mom. Start a conversation that goes something like this: "What do you think of this guy?"
♥ Visit an OLD CLOSE FRIEND and SLEEP OVER. It's time to catch up with the lost time .
♥ Drag the FUNNIEST GUY you know to a cup of coffee.
♥ Do something you like with someone you like. (I'm talking wholesome here.)
♥ BROWSE YOUR OLD PHOTOS. You will find at least one photo that will make you SMILE.
♥ Respond to some interesting FACEBOOK STATUS or MAKE ONE that you know will compel positive
and crazy feedback from friends. This will result to a long active thread that will detach you from your
boredom.
♥ Think of the things that you look forward to. An upcoming activity. A vacation you have booked for
months. A Holiday. Your FUTURE S.O. if you don't have one yet. SUMMER. RAINY DAYS.
CHRISTMAS. YOUR BIRTHDAY. NEW YEAR. VALENTINES.
♥ Listen to HAPPY UPBEAT SONGS with POSITIVE LYRICS.
♥ LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST. WATCH THIS VIDEO:
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