Musings :: Humor is Good for the Soul

Yes, a group of characters here!

Laughter is Good for the Soul!

My husband and I met way back when in high school. We were just friends all through high school, into college (he even came up for a sorority dance) and stayed in contact while I lived and worked in Japan. One thing that has stayed constant is his ability to make me laugh. Not just a polite laugh or giggle, but more along the lines of slapping my knees and maybe even an occasional snort gets thrown out there. To this day, my mother, husband and daughter can all get me laughing like this – where it is a whole body experience! This past week our family went on a much needed vacation and being the silly crew that we are – took an old-time picture and had a blast getting into our characters. You can see what I mean about my husband being a goof.

Surround Yourself with Those Who Help Lighten the Load:

It got me thinking about how important it is to surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Be it friends, family members, your co-worker who has a wicked sense of humor – laughing is good for the soul. And vital to help get you through the tough times as it really does help to lighten the load.

A friend of mine who has a great sense of humor who happens to be a southern firecracker had me in tears the other day while on the computer. We were texting back and forth about some work for the site and she had me laughing so hard I am glad I was home alone as I couldn’t breath and had that ugly laugh going. You know the kind where your face gets all scrunched up? And a few weeks back I was talking to an old college friend and my traveling companion to Japan after college. We had a few minutes to talk before we had to go both pick up our kindergartners. We were laughing about the time I had walked across the street in Japan on my way to work and didn’t notice until I was on the other side that somehow my elastic pants (yes, elastic, but they were still cute pants…) had fallen around my ankles. And not only did I not notice this as I was too in my head (as most 20 year old somethings tend to be) but no one passing me by had bothered to let me know that my pants were around my ankles…

This was followed by the story of how I wore bathroom shoes (in my defense they happen to look like pool shoes) around Japan for about a year before anyone told me I was wearing inappropriate shoes outside. In Japan, people take off their shoes and wear special “bathroom” shoes that happen to look like pool shoes. Once they are finished in the bathroom, they take them off and put on their regular slippers around the house. Well, being the naïve foreigner that I was, I had no clue that these bathroom shoes were meant to be worn only in the bathroom. I proceeded to walk around a full year before anyone bothered to tell me this… nice. Needless to say, my friend and I were laughing so hard my face was beet red and I had to redo my makeup before I headed out the door to pick up my daughter.

So in honor of all of your funny stories and good, hearty laughing sessions with your friends and family – my recommendation is to have more of these. Spend time with those who make you laugh and help lighten the load.

Do you have a funny tale you would like to share with us? Not one that will get you blacklisted from the PTA mind you… but one that can make you laugh years later. Do share!