Do you ever have days when your sense of humor has abandoned you? I know when there is no laughter during the day, I feel out of sorts. Nothing is funny. I become grouchy (according to my husband) and somewhat hard to live with. They say “laughter is the best medicine”. It releases endorphins. Endorphins make you feel better. Endorphins releases all that stress that has built up. Endorphins make you happy. I love endorphins. I like that feeling very much.
Trying to find humor is trying. But, I have found that memories will make you laugh. Sometimes the memory is not as funny as when it was happening, but in retrospect you will find that funny part when you remember the event . Our mother said “you can’t cry when you are laughing”. There are many times that I laugh so hard I start crying . Hey…it is still laughter . When you get older the humor of everyday living is hard to find. Little things can upset you, frustrate you, depress you, and make you grouchy. That will usually cause a major or minor explosion. It takes a lot of energy to deal with those feelings. Today, it is hard to find humor in the movies, in reality shows on television, and dealing with telemarketing phone calls.
My husband and I spend a lot of time together and we talk about the places we have been and the wonderful memories we have of our life experiences. I have a couple a memories that bring back laughter and that good feeling that is called endorphins. I would like to share them with you.
My brother (who shall remain nameless) had a pet rooster. That was the meanest rooster that ever lived. This rooster would sit up in the trees just waiting for some unsuspecting person to get within striking distance. I mean you had to run fast for safety. One day he jumped on the back of our dog, who proceeded to start running down the street. No one was willing to help the poor dog because we felt we would be next. This went on for several months. One day the rooster attacked our little brother and our Mother got the broom out out and went hunting for the rooster. She chased that rooster all over the yard, but finally she caught him and proceeded to wring his neck. Needless to say, that night for dinner we had chicken and dumplings. After dinner, we informed our brother that his rooster was the dinner. Well, he had a fit. It didn’t stop us from laughing.
When my husband and I were visiting our daughter in Minnesota, he decided that he needed a haircut. My daughter had clippers so I started to cut his hair. I do not know how to cut hair very good, in fact it is usually bad, and he ended up with no hair on his head. I decided his eyebrows were bushy and needed a trim. What happened next is, I think, is the clippers kinda slipped and removed his eyebrow . I said “oops”. He demanded a mirror to see what oops meant. He was not a happy camper. My daughter came up with a solution that sounded good. We would take a marking pen and draw him an eyebrow. He could chose from surprised, oriental, unibrow or just a thin line. He said, I really didn’t hear it all, because I was laughing so hard. It was a “you just had to be there”moment. Even today, the word “oops” will cause him to jump. I think he is afraid of “oops”
Everyday I try to find the funny side of life. Some days I laugh just to be laughing. Let’s face it, we do things that are funny. We don’t think so at the moment but you can find humor in your actions. So laugh out loud. Put a smile on your face even if you do not find anything to smile about. Try to find the laughter in each day, it is good for you.
I hope I have made you laugh.
Shirley Sadocchi