The Last Laugh

Life is Too Short To Waste Time NOT Laughing

Let’s face it, the world is a hectic place; war, strife, pollution.. All those things that bring on panic and anxiety, especially when it is literally crammed down our throats every minute of every day on the news, on social media, in the newspapers, etc. It can be sickening, and we can let this kind of bombardment really drag us down. Or… it doesn’t have to.

Laughter.

The magick cure to even the most profoundly upsetting moments in this life. Laughter, unlike other medications, is FREE and it is INFINITELY available. So try a dose every time you are feeling down.

Seek it out…

What makes You Laugh?

Most of us have an idea of what we consider to be humorous or funny. For some it’s watching puppies wrestle with the family cat, or it’s a stand-up comedy special, or it’s a result of a really light hearted conversation,.. It can be from any source, as long as you are aware of what it is that tickles your funny bone. I know a lot of parents that say their kids are the number one thing that can make them smile and soften into laughter… it all depends on the person really.

For me, certain movies just have me cackling everytime, and I really love actors like Robin Williams, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Murray, Seth Rogan, for when I need a good belly laugh. And like most people, I am rendered helpless against the cuteness of baby animals doing adorable things. Ever see baby possums rolling around while chomping on apples?... If you haven’t, the next time you are in a funk, YouTube or FaceBook search it… instant medicine for the soul.

So ponder on it.. What makes you smile so hard it kind of hurts your cheeks?

What makes you laugh till soda comes out of your nose?

Figure this out, and you essentially find a bit of a cure to any ailment.

Why So Serious?... No One Gets Out Alive, So Relax And Enjoy The Ride

We are born, we live for a little while, and then we move on to the next realm. It’s just the way it is. Acceptance of our imminent demise is not easy for some to ruminate on, and for some, it’s actually very easy. For me, I have spent a lot of time around death in my life, so I have a certain, somewhat.. relaxed, view of it. I find the MOST comfort meandering within the graceful humility of it all; armed with a positive attitude, a smile on my face, and an eagerness to find the next laugh of the day.

Laughter is the ultimate buffer, and it is one of the few things that can really break the spell of sadness. Notice how a joke told at the right moment, within the right delivery and context , can really break the ice, or shatter the awkwardness… think to any funeral or wedding you’ve ever been to? One would think that a funeral would NOT be the time and place to make a funny comment, but on the contrary, it can actually pull people out of their depths, and bring them up into the light again. Laughing feels SO good, and it makes it momentarily impossible to stay in the doldrums.

When my father was dying of cancer, his last days were actually full of a lot of humor. He was still cracking relatively bad (as in lame) jokes, but they were so goofy, and the fact that he was in so much pain but still able to muster up the energy to deliver them, just made them hit home in all the good ways. His ability to accept and advance towards an otherwise terrifying journey in such a light hearted manner.. THAT was the last great lesson he taught me. Sometimes the greatest healing you can offer others in your life comes in the form of a joke or gesture, and even if it is the teller of the joke that really could be using the laughs (as in the case with my father), the power that comes with making others smile is undeniably potent.

Surrender To The Cosmic Joke

No matter what you encounter in life, it can be faced with humor. Sometimes the tragic ironies we encounter can make things so ridiculously outrageous that the only thing left to do is to break down hysterically with laughter. I mean really, what else can you do when all of a sudden you are in a situation that turns you upside down,.. You can (and likely will) cry about it, and that’s totally okay, OR once the haze of shock wears off, you can focus on how futile it is to push against the shifting of life’s tectonic plates.. SURRENDER.. Surrender to the cosmic joke that we have “control” over anything at all.. We can think our lives are PERFECT… and then POOF.. some natural force comes and messes the whole thing up, and there is often nothing at all we can do about it. I always think of the movie Finding Nemo in moments like this.. “Keep on swimming, keep on swimming, keep on swimming..”.. That is DAMN right.

Keep. On. Swimming.

I am reminded of a lecture that was delivered to my class during my Yoga Teacher Training where the presenter said this:

“After all of my years of studying the yoga sutras, and immersions into the sacred texts of India, and practicing all the lessons for hundreds of hours,.. I have come to one conclusion and that is this… Life is like a toilet. Get in; Get out. Do your business and try to come out clean without getting any on ya..”

This blew my mind. It was profound AND funny… the fact that this was the thing he considered MOST vital to impart upon our eager minds… wow… it killed me. It was SO fun and SO true, and it was presented in a way that was absolutely easy to digest…. Humor. Sacred humility.. The fact that he shared such a valuable lesson in such a silly way proved to me that he was indeed an enlightened man.. Because a fool is both naive, and brilliant..

Who is more foolish?..

Someone that thinks that getting angry or sad will change anything OR make them feel ANY better?..

OR..

Someone that just doesn’t allow themselves to take it all so seriously; someone who can make lite of the big bad universe, and death, and the great struggle..

The Last Laugh...

I suppose the choice is each person’s to make; I choose to laugh my way into the grave, because it really is all one slightly long test,.. Or joke,.. Or both… one in the same perhaps, but either way like I said above, no one gets out alive, so live while you are here, enjoy the ups and the downs, and accept them as crucial halves to the whole, because without one, you cannot know the true nature of the other. We need to have both polarities to understand the spectrum of experience and emotion, and YES.. it is all rather funny. It’s funny to think that we can predict anything with certainty; it’s funny to think that we as humans have any amount of control over nature; it’s funny to think that we can just as easily get mad, or laugh it off, and that most often it seems anger is the easier road, when in reality it is WAY harder and more costly…

Yeah. It IS funny, at least to me. So my advice: Whatever burns ya.. Let that shit go.

Life really is too short to waste time on feeling crappy.

Trust me on this… See who has the last laugh..

Will it be the dopey fool, almost naive to his impending fate (or is he….)

...Or will it be the self-righteous fighter, yelling, kicking and punching till the end…

My money is on the Fool.

Till next time, Friends…

Keep it fun, and keep it silly.

Be Well.