Thursday, September 20, 2007

Laughter IS the best medicine...

The last two or three days have been pretty rough and tough for me. No... I'm not going to discuss why, but I do want to say a hearty thank you to my blog mates. Because after offering to do almost anything I needed, they kept me laughing.

I think that laughter is vastly underrated. I have a friend who is battling cancer. We talk fairly often and mostly what we do is laugh--giggle like a couple of school girls. What else are we going to do? Crying leaves you with ugly red eyes.

Now if you read the blogga saga regularly, you know that general silliness is not difficult. It just seems to sort of come to us naturally. As a matter of fact, I think we have to rein it in a bit or it gets away from us.

So I spent a good portion of this evening snickering. It's always better to go to bed with a smile on your face than a heavy heart in your chest. Oh, I know that underneath, there are still things to deal with. But the load is lighter because of laughter. And that's important.

Often when we have family and friends far away, suffering all sorts of things we wring our hands and say, "Oh, I wish I could do something to help!"

Well, I'm telling you what to do. Find a way to share the laughter. It might be a silly card. It might be flowers. It might be a letter reminding them of better times or an email with a cartoon. But never forget that whatever the problem is, it's easier to deal with a smile on your face than with teary eyes.

In my life time I have dealt with a pile of disasters and grief. Anyone who has lived, has done the same. But I have observed that those people who can laugh in the midst of tragedy live longer, more productive lives. That they can laugh is not a sign of callousness. It's a sign of deep feeling, cushioned by those little flashes of amusement. Without the cushions, the feelings would drag them down so that they couldn't function.

Next time you see someone laughing in the midst of catastrophe, smile because laughter is the best medicine.

Anny

Speaking of laughter... Oh, my. Go see what Kelly has done with the blogga saga now at www.kkirch.blogspot.com and then of course check in on Amarinda for her usual unique Australian take on life at www.amarindajones.blogspot.com Also, pop in to http://www.cerridwenpress.com/index.asp and have a squizz (I love that word) at Amarinda's newest release Last Man Standing, under her other name, Janet Davies. Isn't that young man on the cover scrumptious?

12 comments:

  1. Thank you Anny, Alex, the man on Last Man Standing is sex on a stick and I tell those who ask he is my neighbour. This explains why I hang around the backyard in my pjs quite a bit.

    And yes, it you can't laugh you scream and then you go hoarse. This is bad for me as I like to sing loudly and out of tune for the whole world to hear and cringe at. It's my gift.

    As for Kelly...she is insane but keep that between you and me. I have the tinfoil ready

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  2. If given a choice between laughter and tears, I will always choose laughter...I have a friend whose facing a huge life decision, and she says she enjoys talking to me, because I can always make her laugh!

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  3. You can't go wrong with laughter, as they say laughter is the best medicine and it is...It takes away all the crazyness and bad stuff.....

    I will take that any day....

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  4. Laughter is indeed the best medicine. I'm lucky to be married to a man who makes me laugh every single day. Life is good!

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  5. Aw shucks, Anny, you make it sound like we did you a favor. But you know as well as I do that the three of us feed off each other. We is funny people and being able to surprise one another with laughter is priceless.

    Besides, look at all the names on your comments! None of them have left comments on our sites so it must be you, babe. This gnome's for you.

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  6. I so totally agree. Whenever I am really down I will call my twin sister and she will make me laugh and lift up my spirits. My 11 month old baby girl or my 4 year old boy will do something to put a smile on my face. Those two are alot of work to take care of but they are so worth it.

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  7. Good blog, Anny.

    You sure as heck know I love to laugh but a lot of people don't get the whole "getting through the tragedy" thing. Some people are so depressed they don't want to be cheered up. That to me is the worst of places to be.

    Humor has been very good for me. A good pull of oxygen really works wonders. Of course, it often takes a little time to gain that perspective, but it's worth it to try.

    Now that you can buy oxygen in a can, maybe I'll keep that on hand for people who just want to curl up and die miserable.

    Ash

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  8. Anny,

    I will try this one last time. I seem to be having trouble leaving my comment. It's just plain silly. I love your attitude about life. All of us need to remember that humor is necessary to our daily lives. One of the best parts of my life is my nieces & nephews who almost always find a way of bringing laughter into my life. I would love them anyways, but the laughter helps.

    Susie AKA Susilien

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  9. Also, My Dr. thought I was nuts a few months back when I told him what a great diet my radiation turned out to be. (You have to find what joy you can in the tough stuff.)

    Susie AKA Susilien

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  10. Bless you, Susie! My friend said the same thing. We laugh a lot together. You have my very best wishes!

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  11. I agree that laughter is the best medicine. It also burns calories. LOL!

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  12. I agree that laughter is the best medicine. If you can find the humor in the situation or in something things tend not to look as bad and sometimes you can find a solution that way. At least in some things.

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