Rizzo: Embrace change, don't forget to laugh
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 27, 2006
San Antonio — Comedian Steve Rizzo offered a timely message for an industry association that has faced major changes in the past year: "Just don't accept change ... embrace it!" was the theme of his keynote address at an International Sleep Products Assn. breakfast here
Rizzo, who has appeared on The Comedy Channel, "Evening at the Improv" and other cable and network TV shows, cracked a series of jokes that had his audience chuckling. But he also said that humor is no mere laughing matter. Laughter reduces stress, he said, and helps everyone enjoy the challenges they face.
Too many people say, "I'll enjoy myself when I achieve this goal," Rizzo noted. "You are literally putting your happiness on hold. Happiness will always be a couple of steps ahead of you." But, he continued, it's possible to achieve goals and enjoy the process at the same time.
Rizzo said that no one can stop change, but that everyone can choose the state of mind they will adopt in responding to change. There is always enough hope and peace available to deal with whatever happens in life, he said.
Becoming a "professional humor being" is essential to embracing change, according to Rizzo. "Humor nips negative thoughts and emotions in the bud," he said, citing the anger and frustration that many people experience as they drive to work. Rather than let himself succumb to such emotions, he laughs at the experience. And that helps at work too, he said. "Why don't you laugh when your workload is too much?"
One of the problems, Rizzo said, is that "we don't think we have the right" to laugh. And "we are somehow managing to stifle our laughter genes. We are forgetting what it is like to laugh."
Humor provides emotional stability that prevents change from becoming overwhelming, Rizzo said. Negative thoughts lead to negative beliefs, but humor helps everyone see brighter alternatives and realize that they have choices in how they respond to challenges.
ISPA President Dick Doyle, who introduced Rizzo as "the attitude adjuster," responded to his speech by saying he plans to put those lessons to use with ISPA's new chairman, Kerry Tramel, president of Lady Americana.
"I'm looking forward to a humorous year with Kerry," Doyle said.
