Seems like there is an obvious answer to this question. Of course, a rubber chicken cannot help save a life. But, I have some evidence I would like to share that challenges this conventional wisdom.
Meet Henrietta, an extraordinary 3-foot tall rubber chicken in a purple polka dot bikini. Henrietta was sent as a gift from a friend, Julie Gross who sent a note with her:
“This is Henrietta, the Good Luck Chicken. She has brought us luck for years, and she is yours now. She is here to help you through this ordeal.”
Honestly, when I met Henrietta, four days after skiing into a tree at 45MPH, I was not in the mood for a giant rubber chicken, but I did not object and my wife displayed her prominently in my ICU room. From the moment she arrived, her upbeat personality permeated the room and she played an important role in my recovery.
Every doctor, nurse, and visitor that entered my ICU room after she arrived all stopped in their tracks when they saw her. They would stand there, dumbfounded by Henrietta, and these brilliant people would say something simple like “Ummm, you have a giant rubber chicken in your room!?…” We would have Henrietta introduce herself with a honk, and they couldn’t help but smile and laugh. The mood in the room changed when she was in it. No longer was it a place of stress, worry and pain, it was a place where you could smile and laugh even during that dire situation.
We didn’t realize it at the time, but there is science that shows the important role that laughter plays in healing. There was even made a movie about it with Robin Williams playing the famous doctor Patch Adams who used humor as part of his therapy to heal patients.
Henrietta not only contributed to saving my life, but she is still playing a role in my life and boosting the positivity of everyone she meets. She supervised the book writing process for “Head First! A Crash Course in Positivity” which was recently published. And because Henrietta has her own chapter, it’s destined to be a best seller.
Since then, she has been on TV, featured in a TEDx talk and introduced to thousands of people in multiple speaking engagements. Henrietta has been supervising the PR and marketing campaign for the book and knowing her, she will be getting herself more air time on both traditional media and social media. I can’t wait to see where she goes and what she’ll do next.
Despite her busy schedule, Henrietta still finds time to analyze the results of the positivity assessment on my website. If you take the quiz on stevehlawton.com, she will tell you if you are on an attitude fitness mountaintop, on an attitude fitness trail, or in an attitude fitness wasteland and in need of a positivity boost. She will also tell you the three positivity principles and exercises that you can apply that will make the biggest difference in your life.
Let Henrietta inject a little positivity in your life. Take the positivity quiz, let Henrietta analyze your answers and do the exercises she recommends. Henrietta played a role in saving my life, maybe she can change yours too.
