Why is it important to have some fun and happiness in your life? There is an old saying which says 'laughter is the best medicine'. But why is it important? Because health and happiness is good for your personal health and well-being.

When you are happy you get more balance in your life and you feel a reduction in your stress levels. Since there is more to life than work, it's important to have good work-life balance which leads to you being happy. It depends on you. No-one else can force you to be happy.

When you feel happy you may experience an extra-ordinary sense of excitement, an awareness of 'this is what life is about'.

Happiness is about doing things you really love to do, being creative, letting your imagination run free.

So what stops you being as happy as you'd like to be? Is it because you're scared of what others might say or think?

This is very common reason why so many people remain stuck. Ask yourself what might be the worst thing to happen if you did something which you believe would make you happier but might upset someone. Notice how you answer and then ask yourself that question again: and if they did that or said that or thought that about me, what is the worst that could happen? Mostly these fears turn out to be ungrounded because the others can accept more than you expect and are probably worried about things in their own lives to be too upset about yours.

If you feel you would like to have more fun and happiness in your life than you have now, then you may be fearful of change. Start to laugh more and you will begin to overcome that fear. Notice how much happier you become.