At the hairdresser's in Istanbul, day of my friend's wedding. 

Saying farewell to the Turkish Empire in today's Comedy Around the World.  So, how do you add more humor to your life?  By changing your opinions, your attitudes, your frame of mind.  How do you do that?  It's not easy.  It's a lot easier to be affected by the multi-tasking mindset, the competitive spirit, and the stress that every day brings. 

To remind myself that it is possible to make big changes in our lives, I enlist the memory of one of my heroes.  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.  Why does a girl from Western Pennsylvania care about someone who ruled a far-away land decades ago?  Because he was one of those pioneers.  One of those people who made huge shifts in the societies where they lived.  Just like Martin Luther did with his printing press invention.  Just like Ghandi did to change the way people perceived each other's worth as human beings.  Just as my friend Dick Traum does daily, promoting the human rights of the disabled around the world with the Achilles Track Club.  

Ataturk was one of those people.  Not only did he modernize the new nation of Turkey, he convinced people to stop using the Arabic alphabet.  (Remember when the U.S. tried to go metric?)  Ataturk allowed women to vote--I think it was many years before our "modern" United States did the same. 

Think of your own heroes. Who are those people who have done amazing, mind-altering (literally) feats.  Be inspired by them.  You can learn to take yourself and your world more lightly.  You can create that environment where other people feel at ease, creative, and productive.  Ataturk's laser-focus is what we all need.  Focus on humor--what's funny, ironic, bizarre, even macabre--every day.  And, don't forget to, "Get Your SHINE Together!"