Thirty-One Things - Laugh

Make them Laugh!

Contagious laughter is a priceless gift.  That is, the kind of laughter that makes you laugh because of someone else’s actual laughter.  Phyllis Diller was classic with this…and her famous cackle was her authentic laugh.

Once Ed was tying his shoelaces and it broke.  He made some Ed-ism remark, and I laughed.  Then Lydia laughed hard, deep, belly laugh.  Her laugh was the trigger to more laughter.

There’s something contagious about trying to stifle a laugh.  I do this “keep my mouth shut but then my laugh comes out of my nose” laugh.  It causes such a stir, I should just let my laugh fly.  It always happens in public.  It often brings a laugh from others and sometimes smart remarks.  Like Phyllis, it comes from an authentic place.

One of my favorite memories with my mom is when we would get tickled about something.  An inside joke, you might say.  Just between us.  And other people most likely don’t get it.  Lydia and I share those moments as well. 

The greatest laugh comes from children.  Gabriel used to get excited and laugh sounding like a weed-whacker.  Noah can laugh so hard that it sounds like he is crying.  I remember how Caleb would laugh hysterically when the Rugrats’ mother would come on television or the mouse would hop up and down on the turkey rotisserie in the fireplace in a Muppet Christmas Carol.

Laughter is good for us.  Proverbs tells us that a merry heart does good like a medicine.  At times I need to be random and silly…punchy…slap happy!  It does my heart good to have a lighter attitude about life.  I have a mind that is always amusing itself.  It’s dangerous in a group, as of those amusements will slip out inadvertently.  Inside my head is a non-stop repertoire of movie lines.

Stephen Chobsky writes, “There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard.  Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.” I’d add: When laughter turns into a coughing spell.