A card arrived in the mail today. I’ve been receiving so many cards and letters lately from friends, because I’m a (semi) card person now, that I didn’t even look at who it was addressed to — I assumed it was me. I looked at who had sent it. I recognized the last name… it was my mother’s maiden name. Then I glanced to see who it was addressed to — Barbara Brewster. My first thought was, “seriously?”. My second thought was, “who didn’t get the memo?”. I quickly opened the card, curious what it said. Here’s a little of what the hand written note inside said:
… a few days have passed since we last talked. Time flies when we’re having fun!
So, of course, because I have always had a tendency to laugh at some weird humor and inappropriate things… I laughed. “Yes,” I thought, “it’s been a barrel of monkeys”. Then it dawned on me — this card was perfectly timed for what I needed at the moment.
Laughs really don’t give us any indication of when they’re approaching — the giggles come upon us during the national anthem, a hearty laugh rolls out of us when we’re visiting someone ill in the hospital, a guffaw slips out while we’re watching wedding vows being exchanged.
We laugh because we can…because we have to. Because when we laugh, for those few minutes, our world becomes bearable. Our world becomes the place we want to be. Our world becomes the place we can return to the next day and start all over.
So, in the end, I’ll laugh longer than I’ll cry. I’ll smile longer than I won’t. And I’ll remember that the strange laughter is sometimes the best.
So maybe a few places to help get your laugh box in gear:
- It’s all very scientific — which of course means it’s for real, right?
- This should get you going in the right direction!
- If you’ve never bopped along with this tune, here’s your chance.
To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it. – Charlie Chaplin
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