“It’s not that optimism solves all of life’s problems; it is just that it can sometimes make the difference between coping and collapsing.” – Lucy Macdonald
Remember the small magazine, “Reader’s Digest”? That publication had a section called “Laughter is the Best Medicine” containing all the absurdities of life; the ridiculous, the irrational, the illogical and the most downright silly.
As I live through the years, I realize the wisdom in this section….looking at the lighter side of life can turn our beliefs around to give us new perceptions and novel ideas.
Laughter works as the antidote for fear, separation, conflict and hurt. Things that divide people no longer have power when laughter helps us drop old perceptions, prejudices and grievances.
We can shift our thinking to promote hope and a new resolve when we drop the heavy burden of taking ourselves so seriously.
Laughter is God’s welcoming Spirit at work in a troubled world.
This spirit reminds us that we are part of a whole, living in togetherness rather than isolation. It promotes love, not fear and hope rather than despair.
Alan Watts, an English philosopher and expert in comparative religions, stated, “The whole art of life is knowing how to transform anxiety into laughter.”
This transformation starts with facing our fears and the missteps we make. Instead of succumbing to their negativity, we need to find the smile in our foibles and those of others.
Similar to finding the good in each day, we must find the optimism in each event.
Let’s spend less time judging and fault finding in ourselves and our neighbors and more time finding the joy, the absurd or the inane that comes our way.
We all have the power to turn our world around, seeing God at work even in the most dire of situations.
Knowing the powerful punch that laughter carries, seek the “lighter side” of life….it is good for what ails you.
God made the giraffe, then laughed!
