Inspirational stories and inspiring words: Blue, black and turquoise butterfly.

Inspirational Stories & Inspiring Words with a Shot of Humor - to Keep Positive Thinking on Tap

Inspirational stories don't always have to be serious in nature. Sometimes a good laugh is all you need to restore positive thinking to your world. When things get intense in your life, a little comic relief could help you see things in a brand new light.  

You never know when funny and inspiring stories will come or where they will come from, so keep your eye open for them.

For example, a lot of things children say and do can bring inspiration and comic relief to the lives of parents and family members. Consider a quick inspirational story (true!) from a mother returning home to visit her family:

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"Every Thanksgiving, we make the eight hour drive back home to see my family. Last year, I ended up very sick, completely lost my voice, and my lips were so dry they were cracking. Since we were staying at my sister's home, I sent my seven-year-old son upstairs to ask if they had any chapstick or Vaseline.

Moments later, I heard uproarious laughter from upstairs. My son came back downstairs and said they didn't have any. Later, my sister informed me that my son had walked into the living room and said, "Does anyone have assoline?"

Funny inspirational stories about valseline turning into assoline.

It just so happened there was some tension in the house that night, and my son's comic relief was just the ticket to turn sour moods into laughter. He had no idea what the laughter was about and assumed it meant there was no "assoline" in the house. To him, it was no big deal. To the adults who got a very different idea of what "assoline" might be, it was a reason to laugh. The laughter was much better than focusing on those other things which at that time were making us want to rip our hair out one strand at a time.

Today, whenever we hear someone say "Vaseline" now, we all have a little something to laugh about. I don't think anyone in that house has forgotten that day, and it continues to provide a reason to smile and keep our minds on the side of positive thinking.

It ranks right up there with the Thanksgiving a few years back when all of the kids were jumping up and down screaming what part of the turkey guts they wanted to pull out. My son was the smallest in the bunch, but his voice was the loudest when he screamed, "I want the boobies!""

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Life may give us assoline rather than Vaseline, but we aren't going to give up. Instead, we are going to consider it one more thing to laugh about ... later. We all have to learn those heartbreaking lessons about life, like e.g. learning there are no boobies to pull out of the turkey. Yet, we can all make it through to brighter days (perhaps with more boobies, too) because there is always something positive to focus on.

After reading this page through once, you will have a clear idea of what inspiration is and how inspirational stories can provide comic relief and help you keep up the positive thinking.

Taking the big picture with inspiring stories that give you a helicopter view of life: Photo of white helicopter.

It's all about finding and preserving the big picture, the helicopter view of life.

Having and maintaining the BIG and LONG TERM view of your life even as it is happening, including all the everyday dramas and periodic ups and downs is a big and wonderful key to inner peace and continued positive thinking.

Some people use the thought of their own death to keep them attuned to the big picture:

Almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
~ Steve Jobs ~

Or, you could use love as a measurement:

When you want to know what's important in life just check out how much love is involved. The more love and the more unconditional that love, the more important it is. Everything else is just varying degrees of distracting fluff.
~ Soren Lauritzen ~ , the Personal Development Guy

If you want, you can even take it one step further than death itself and mix it with the love-measurement ...

Some people who have had near death experiences (as well as a lot of people who examine 'the life between lives' under deep hypnosis) report that when your physical body dies, your soul or spirit will be doing a life review:

What did you learn in this life? How did you grow? What was important and what was essentially a waste of time?

The prevalent measures of success in this life review seems to be: helping others, learning and growing, and last but not least living a life full of love.

Well, why not do this life review every day? Or at least do it whenever you're faced with an apparently big drama or decision.

The next time you are facing some dramatic decision just ask yourself, "If I were dead and reviewing my life - and this situation - in the light of helping others, growing and loving, which choice would I make now?"

When you look at it like that, it does not matter what you are going through in life right now. Reading this page and jumping around the linked pages of inspiring stories and inspiring words and will help you see the BIG picture - and thus get through the most challenging periods of your life.

After reading the inspirational words on this page one time, you can bookmark the page and come back whenever you need inspiring stories to lift you up or just give you something positive to focus on. Use the following quick list for instant access to pages of inspirational stories dedicated to different needs and life circumstances:

- Inspiring Stories about Love - with Humor

- Inspiring Stories for Parents [LINK upcoming]

- Inspiring Stories about Loss and Grief [LINK upcoming]

- Inspiring Stories about Letting Go [LINK upcoming]

- Inspiring Stories about Moving On [LINK upcoming]

- Inspiring Stories for those Living In Fear [LINK upcoming]

- Inspiring Stories for Courage [LINK upcoming]


What is Inspiration?

What is inspiration? Photo of rainbow on a lake.

Inspiration is something that makes you want to do better in your life.

At times it can be something that makes you so unhappy or dissatisfied with how things are that you are compelled to do something different.

At other times it can be something that reminds you that even though everything is acceptable or maybe even good, there are even better things out there.

Inspiration is what convinces you that you could actually do more with your life - feel more or better, have more or better, do more or better, and last but not least be more or better.

Set an apple on the table and I will tell you it is an apple, but it's a different story with inspiration.

Other than the above definition, inspiration is not something you can point a finger at and label. Literally anything can be inspiring. The inspiration you get from this page will come in the form of inspirational stories, poems, quotes or sayings.

Seeing as how this is Quotescoop.com everything will come from a fairly light and humorous angle. So, you will take something of value away every time you visit, but it won't weigh you down. It might make you think, but that comes with a happy ending of a smile or laughter.

Inspiring stories are often serious in nature. They make you think, make you cry, and make you want to take some sort of action. You can get the same thing from humor. Things that make you laugh can make you think. Things that make you smile can make you believe in your power to change your own life. You can get serious messages and change your life while smiling, laughing, and being a proud endorser of positive thinking.

No situation in life is too dark for positive thinking. Even if your name is Brian and you have been mistaken for a messiah and crucified by the Romans you can still smile, whistle and sing, "Always look on the bright side of life ..."

Laughter is powerful. What you learn from others can transform your world. You have only to let it. Even as you smile. Stick around awhile and explore inspirational stories with a touch of humor.

Feel Free to Kick Yourself When You're Down

Most people do not think it is fair to kick a dog while he is down, and that is often used as slang meaning those who are already struggling should be given a break.

If you really want to change your life, you will both do this for yourself AND turn this around for yourself.

Yes, cut yourself some slack - don't get all stressed out over something that in the BIG picture of your life is just not that important. But at the same time, do not give yourself time whine and cry about things not going right in your life.

That's never going to get you anywhere better, so that's just a waste of time and energy. Instead, when you know you are struggling, pick a good direction and take the first step. Just one step and you are on your way to a better life. You might, for instance, come here to dig into our humorous inspiring stories.

If you want (maybe because your ego is of a particularly whiney, victim-like nature) you can even kick yourself while you are down, so to speak, in the butt at least, so you are inspired to make things better. Just fuel the kick with love and humor, which, by the way, is what the inspirational stories here aim to give you.

In a way it is what you do when you are down that really matters in life. We all tend to learn more from our mistakes and failures than from our successes.

If someone could hand you all of the puzzle pieces to inner peace, success and happiness and allow you to merely put them together to enjoy the rewards, how much easier would that make your life? Someone has, you know. In fact a lot of someones have. These people are called by many names: spiritual teachers, sages, gurus, leaders, visionaries, counsellors, therapists and coaches to name but a few. Unfortunately, most people are too preoccupied with themselves and their own fears to notice.

(If you should happen to be interested, one of those people wrote a couple of small books you can buy here: Finding Inner Peace by Letting Go and How to Be Yourself and Find Authentic Happiness).

Most of us get knocked down and have to fight back to our feet. We might get back on our feet from the generosity and love of others, but it always takes determination and mental strength. It also really helps to have or cultivate the ability to laugh at ourselves and keep the positive thinking flowing even in the darkest of moments.

When life gives you assoline rather than Vaseline ... what are you going to do? Whine and give up or laugh while you keep moving forward one small step at a time?

A Six Letter Secret to Successess

Action and Inspirational stories: photo of hummingbird drinking nectar from big pink flower.

What if I told you that one of the secrets to success in this world was one word with just six letters?

You might find that hard to believe, considering entire books are written on the premise of revealing secrets to success. Yet, it is true! One of the most important secrets to success is action.

You can read all of the inspiring stories you like, and even write a few of your own, but it will do you no good without action. You can use humor to make yourself feel better about a bad situation in life, but the situation will probably not correct itself unless you do something about it.

Inspirational stories can give you a pick-up and restore positive thinking to your mind, but from there you have to step out into the world, find solutions for your problem and put them to the test.

Very little success will come into your world without action. Inspirational stories are fun and lighthearted, but they are only motivation to get you into motion. The motion may be internal reflection or deep thinking, or it might be physical action to take your life in a new direction. Whatever it is to you, absorb the nuggets of gold found in these inspiring stories and then progress to action.

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Where are You Now?

What is happening in your life right now? What type of action do you need to take in order to heal your pains, correct your problems, and reinforce the things bringing happiness and peace to your world?

You have to be your own Santa Claus, making your list and checking it twice. You may be naughty or you may be nice, but you have the responsibility of making sure you receive all the gifts this life has in store for you.

When you take the time to read inspirational stories, laugh at yourself, and find solutions to your problems, every day can be Christmas.

Every day is a gift: Photo of gift wrapped in golden paper.

Every day can bring a gift worth unwrapping. Most particularly those situations that you really hate - the contain the greatest seed of growth.

I hope this page of inspirational words has given you a reason to smile or perhaps even release a bit of tension with a laugh.

Jump around to the inspiring stories and bits of humor on the pages linked on the list above. You will get some warmth in your soul, and it will be much easier to the keep positive thinking on tap when things just seem to be falling apart (but are in fact falling together).

Remember: life may give you ive you assoline rather than Vaseline, but there is always a reason to smile!  

 

Where Would You Like to Go Next?

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Powerful Inspirational Life Quotes and Happy Motivational Phrases.

Funny Inspirational Quotes: Yet another a motivation essay, only this one's focused on fun!

Free Inspirational Quotes: Yet another further different motivation essay along with great tips of how to use quotes!

The Best Inspirational Motivational Quotes & Motivational Phrases to Live out Your Full Potential.

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Share Your Inspirational Life Quotefe Quote and Motivational Quotation.

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