Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

You don’t stop laughing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop laughing. Michael Pritchard

Last night at Toastmasters our theme was humor. Everything was geared to humor. It was a light-hearted, funny evening.

A few people throughout the evening noted that some people have a humorous side and some of us don’t seem to. We see the more serious side of life. We were born to laugh, look at a baby and see how often they laugh. What happened to all that laughter we had as children?

Do some of us have a humorous disposition? What do the rest of us have, a miserable one? Is it possible to develop a humorous disposition? One of the best things in life is shared laughter. We look forward to seeing certain people because they always make us laugh. Is there anyone that looks forward to seeing us because we make them laugh?

Researchers have discovered that people who hold a pencil between their teeth in an artificial smile found funny videos funnier. If we did it in front of other people they would laugh and then we would laugh. It is like the anti-negativity rock I picked up, one for mom and one for me. As my sister says whose boss gave her one, every time I rub the anti-negativity rock all over myself, it makes me laugh; the laughing is probably what produces the anti-negativity.

We can have a joke a day sent to our inbox, or we can browse Facebook or YouTube for funny videos. There is always a laugh on Facebook and bless the people who look for the funnies and post them.

There is humor all around us. If we look for it we will find it, if we want to be serious, dour, and miserable that is our choice. If we want more laughter in our life we can even try fake laughter, which if we try it, often turns into real laughter.

A good laugh is sunshine in the house. William Thackeray

If we want more laughter in our life we are told to surround our self with funny people. This is great advice but not everyone has access to a new group to socialize with. It may be easier and better to figure out how to bring more humor into our life than look for other people to bring humor into our life. We need to bloom where we are planted. It may be hard to bring more mirth into a very serious, uptight family.

It doesn’t mean it is impossible. We may even think certain groups are not where funny happens. Toastmasters are a group that a lot of people think is staid, serious, not for me, until they come out to one of our club meetings. We have guests all the time who seem surprised they enjoyed themselves. They didn’t know what to expect but it wasn’t a fun evening of laughter.

Joining groups is good for our health, and one of the reasons joining groups is good for our health is probably because in groups we laugh, joke, and look on the lighter side of life.

If we look at life as serious business, we might find it hard to see the funny in our life. One of the things my husband says to me is, “I love to see you laugh.” We need to laugh, when we can laugh together we see the funny side when we don’t laugh little things can become irritants.

We hear from people who have lost spouses that they miss the little things. They miss the shared laughter, fights, and rituals. Don’t we love to hear a joke and share it with our partner? Don’t let the funny moments in our lives pass without laughing and sharing, we don’t know how long we will have to laugh, let’s make the most of it.

Laughter is like the oil that makes our lives run smoothly if we can see the humor it can take the sting out of anger.  We naturally turn our anger, frustration, annoyance, and irritation into laughter, eventually. Some of our funniest stories are about things that happened to us that weren’t funny at the time, but through the virtue of time and distance, we can see the funny in them.

The problem is eventually is too long to wait. How can we speed up the process? We find it easier to laugh at other people’s mistakes quicker than we laugh at our own. If we can remove ourselves from the story maybe we can see the funny quicker. After all, we’d be rolling on the floor if it happened to someone else. It’s our choice to see the funny side of life, or not.

A well-balanced person is one that finds both sides of an issue laughable. Herbert Procknow

As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it. Lao Tsu

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, laughter, and love.

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