A Good Giggle or a Belly Laugh

We’ve all had those times in life where we find ourselves in a situation that isn’t very funny. It hurts, it is stressful and while we are in it everything seems rather surreal. It often takes time and perspective to help us find the funny, the laughter and the hilarity in our circumstances. Sometimes it is retelling the story to someone at a much later date that brings us to the point of laughing hardily out loud.

Thank goodness for those uproarious outbursts. They put the horrific into perspective. It may not have been funny at the time, yet now that we see things through calmer, clearer lenses we can “see” the fun in it all. It is as if the words in this quote – shock absorber – were said to describe exactly what we experience. Laughter helps us process and understand the hilarity in the sad, the bad and the truly heart breaking things that happen in everyone’s life. And thank goodness we have laughter to help us through it all.

It takes courage to laugh at ourselves, while we are in the situation or much later. We grow up when we have our first belly laugh at our own expense. Life provides many situations and experiences in our path to teach us about ourselves, laughter is definitely one of those tools. The best moments are when we laugh so hard we cry tears of uncontrollable release and joy. Life is fun, it’s funny, and truth is better than any fiction novel or adventure movie; no writer can make it up that good. Being able to laugh it off, laugh it out or even laugh later means we get it. We are not in control and never will be, so things are going to happen and we get to choose how we are going to process through it all. My life is better for the people I know who regularly laugh at themselves.

So today, recall for yourself or someone else a horrific experience that has the power to make you laugh. It was terrible experiencing it and now that time has passed being able to laugh about it means you win! That shock absorber called laughter has changed the horrific into the hilarious. And we can all use a good giggle or belly laugh, so why not today?