BOOK REVIEW: Life is Short...Wear Your Party Pants

Self help books are not high on my reading list. Along with Mary Poppins, I find them to be unnecessary. Saying that, I do love Loretta LaRoche. She is an internationally respected stress management consultant and I first became aware of her several years ago on PBS. She made me laugh then and I still smile when I think of some of her advice.

Her recent book, LIFE IS SHORT... WEAR YOUR PARTY PANTS is a good example of her wit and wisdom. Some of us may remember being told that certain pairs of underpants were to be saved for a “special occasion”  The same held true for the good china, glassware or table linens. ( I still have a tendency to do that with my cloth napkins). Loretta reminds us to break out and enjoy all of the good things in our life, not only underpants and china, but our friends and our stress.

She points out that stress can be a good thing. Stress tells us that we are alive and can encourage us to a fuller life. “ An amazing life requires resilience” How we handle that stress is what makes the difference. Of course, she recommends laughter to keep it under control.

For example, turn what is bothering you into a soap opera in your head. If you know that you are going to be late for work, rewrite the scene to getting fired, losing your job, your home, you and your family are living in a shelter; eventually you lose husband and children and end up eating out of public garbage cans. As you picture yourself in bag lady garments, your sense of humor should start surfacing. Could all of this happen? Maybe, but what are the odds. This is usually when I picture myself wearing a crown and sash that says “Miss Drama Queen 1957”.

The point is that so many things that we stress over are not going to happen or they are not that big of a deal.

I also like her advice on how much we are affected by the power of words. How we answer the question. “How ya doin’?”  can make a difference in how we are doing. Answer with “Terrific” or Great” and you soon are; same holds true of a negative answer.

Her books remind us how important relationships are. We owe good things to ourselves as well as to our friends and family. We never want to allow stressing over trivial details to tear a hole in our seals of friendship. I think of how many times laughing with my friends just makes me feel freer. She also reminds us that charity is an integral part of all religions. We are at our best when we are helping others.

The advice in LIFE IS SHORT... WEAR YOUR PARTY PANTS may not be overwhelmingly new to you, but sometimes we need some nudges to keep us on track. Loretta Laroche gives us that nudge and laughs with us as we live on. As Loretta says, take advice from your younger self and enter a room with a “Ta Da” or from your grandmother, “ Eat some pasta. You’ll feel better”.