The Power of Laughter- Off Topic

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter" -e.e. cummings

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter" -mark twain

"Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine" -lord byron

"I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me to be the most civilized music in the world" -peter ustinov

I think it's pretty clear to most people that "laughter is the best medicine," which is why I'm so interested in it lately.

This thought process came to me about a week ago when I went, after a ridiculously long day at work, and then and even longer day trying to write an essay, to pick my roomate up from school. On the way home I got pulled over for "weaving." In reality, I turned a corner, and then swiched lanes. SO....if that's weaving, then apparently we're all stuck in the same lane forever. To make matters worse, I didn't have my car insurance with me. I had two expired copies. How that happened, I'll never know. So now that I have a ticket for "weaving," a ticket for not having a valid copy of my car insurance with me, I'm a little bitter about life. I spent the rest of the evening complaining about anything I could think of.

So the next day, in the middle of a very busy week, I get in my car, drive to Tim's, pick up a coffee, and start the hour-long drive to my parents' house, where the valid copy of my car insurance is. Apparently it was mixed in with my mom's papers for her own car. Again, don't know how that happened. So I had an hour to think about nothing but life, and all the horrible things that happen to me. And, realistically, nothing horrible happens to me. I have it pretty good. I was in a mood, and small things tend to snowball in one's mind when they're in a mood. It's been a frustrating few months, looking for something specific to add to my life that it seems almost impossible to find. Work has been exhausting, school has been exhausting, and I wasn't in the mood to spend the only free 2 hours of my day driving.

Long story short, I got to my parents' house, and sat down on the couch. My dog, after settling down, stood up and stretched back, kind of like a cat would do. And my mom said "Look! Look how good he is at downward dog!" And then he proceeded to stretch forward, like a dog would do, and my mom said "Ahhhh...upward dog!" (both yoga poses) I just couldn't stop laughing, I thought it was hysterical. And, I felt a whole lot better about life after laughing for a good 10 minutes straight. I was happpy driving back home, and content. I sang to music on the radio, and didn't have that feeling like the world was falling down around me. I attribute that to laughing.

So, I started thinking about the power of laughter. At work, when things get tense, someone says something ridiculous and the rest of us just burst out laughing, and the mood is lifted. At home, when we're annoyed by the people who live upstairs, we have no choice but to laugh and get over it.

So I decided that at the end of every day...and I mean EVERY day, I'm going to write down something funny that happened. Be it small, big, sarcastic, or on TV, I'm going to find something that made me laugh.

It's been a week, and seriously, when things start to look dire, all I have to do is open my book and look at funny things that have happened in previous days, and it's an instant mood lifter. I encourage everyone to try this, it works!

I know mostly everything that I've written down is a "you had to be there" moment, but I thought I'd share a few in hopes of lifting someone's mood today who might need it.

Monday- at work. I'm working away and a coworker/friend comes up behind me.

Coworker: Hey gorgeous.

Me: Do I want any oranges?

Coworker: What?!

Me: Did you just ask if I wanted oranges?

Coworker: No, I said hey gorgeous.

Me: Ohhh. Sorry! Hi!

Thursday- at school, sitting in a coffeehouse/student lounge reading. Desperate Housewives is on the TV and a couple people are watching. A guy comes in and sits down next to me, and really has no choice but to watch too. A while later his friend comes in.

Guy #1: Hey man, how's it going?

Guy #2: Oh hey man, it's good...just.....watching some...Desperate Housewives. (he pauses, and looks at the TV, then turns back to his friend) It helps me deal with my issues.

Saturday- At a wedding, the bride is saying her speech at the reception.

Bailey: Scott, other than the day Dairy Queen came out with their Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, this is the happiest day of my life.

So, thanks for hanging in there with me through this loooong post, but I hope I made someone laugh today!