“A Good Laugh is Sunshine in The House” ~W. Thackeray

by | Sep 24, 2021

Proverbs 15:13,  “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”

Sometimes the best thing you can do is find something to laugh about.  I know there are times that are not appropriate or even a possibility because there’s just nothing to laugh about in some situations, so please know that I am by no means making light of anyone’s situations here.  Believe me, I have faced some dark situations in life where there was absolutely nothing funny and laughter was the furthest thing from my mind, I have situations even now that satan has gone overboard in his attacks, but his day is coming.  

For those times though when your heart is heavy and you just have no strength or you are overrun with anxiety, sometimes the best thing you can do is find something to make you laugh.  Laughter can help change your perspective and it can help ease anxieties.  I was raised by parents who laughed at every opportunity there was to laugh.  You know that saying, “if it doesn’t kill you it will make you stronger”?  Well, in our family if it didn’t kill you there was probably someone looking on laughing!  I know I have told this story before but I am going to throw it in again:  

     Back in the day I had a pony appropriately named “Dynamite”.  My Dad had decided for some reason to put him on a long lead instead of in the pasture and he told me to give him a little hay one day so he wouldn’t eat the grass until it was too short and he would move him later.  My cousin Louise lived with us at the time and she went out with me and we decided to just sit out there and talk. I gave Dyno his hay and water and decided I would sit on him instead of the ground.  Usually, I would just jump on and turn around but that day I figured I would save a step and just jump on him backward.  Well, while that sounded good to me… when my foot swung over his head and I landed on his back it scared him because he didn’t know it was me!  He took off!  He was galloping around the circle that his lead was allowing and I was hanging on for dear life!  I was trying to grab hair, but it was in the middle of the summer so he didn’t have much hair.  I was holding on as tight as I could with my legs and then I came up with a “bright idea”.  I would just grab his tail!  Obviously, I wasn’t thinking very clearly because when I grabbed his tail clearly he thought whatever horrible thing it was that was on his back was now attacking his bum and that was the last straw for him and he bucked and I went flying!  Louise was sitting on the ground watching all of this and I landed right in front of her on my bum!  We were both cracking up when my parents walked out with my Mom elbowing my Dad telling him to “stop” because he was struggling to not laugh until they saw I was ok.  Then they both lost it and my dad said, “that was seriously the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life!”  I can’t help but laugh every time I think about it.  We have always laughed whenever the opportunity comes and of course if it was appropriate.

Life is hard and there are times when your heart just needs a good laugh.  Sometimes there are people around you who could just use something funny instead of sitting and dwelling on the storm they are facing.  Be careful to make sure that if you are trying to cheer someone else up that your humor is appropriate.  While laughter can be healing it can also be hurtful when the timing is inappropriate or the humor is inappropriate, be sensitive to what others are going through.  I have days when I will literally look up one video after the next for something to laugh about to help change my perspective.  Some of the funniest people I know are those who have been through the fire and they found something to laugh about through it all.  Above all share Joy!  Share the joy of the Lord that He will fill you with if you ask.  His heart’s desire is to be seen through us and it is His hope, joy, mercy, grace, and love that will help get you through another day or through that fire and He wants the world to know Him and all He has to offer.  Take some time today to find something to laugh about and if there’s someone else you know who could use a good laugh share it with them as well.  Seek God with your whole heart and cling to the fact that He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever and He has a plan even in the darkest of situations.  He loves you!

Quote:  “A good laugh is sunshine in the house.”  ~ William Thackeray

One more silly story that I found in the book “So Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy” by Barbara Johnson:

When one man was asked to fill out a group insurance form explaining the many injuries on which he was making a claim, this is what he said:

     I am writing in response to your request concerning Block No. 1 on the insurance form which asked for the cause of injuries, wherein I put “Trying to do the job alone.”  You said you needed more information, so I trust that the following will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade, and on the day of the injuries, I was working alone, laying brick around the top of a four-story building, when I realized that I had about five hundred pounds of brick left over.  Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to put them in a barrel and lower them by the pulley, which was fastened to the top of the building.  I secured the end of the rope at ground level and went up to the top of the building and loaded the bricks into the barrel and shoved the barrel off with the bricks in it.  Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it securely to insure the slow descent of the barrel.

     As you will note on Block No. 6 of the insurance form, I weigh 150 pounds.  Due to the shock of being jerked off the ground so swiftly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope.  Between the second and third floors, I met the barrel coming down.  This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body.  Regaining my presence of mind again I held tightly to the rope and proceeded rapidly up the side of the building, not stopping until my right hand was jammed in the pulley.  This accounts for my broken thumb. 

     Despite the pain, I retained my presence of mind and held tightly to the rope.  At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel.  Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed about fifty pounds.  I refer you again to Block No. 6 and my weight.  As you would guess, I began a rapid descent.  In the vicinity of the second floor, I met the barrel coming up.  This explains the injuries to my legs and lower body.  Slowed only slightly, I continued my descent, landing on the pile of bricks.  Fortunately, my back was only sprained and the internal injuries were minimal.  I’m sorry to report, however, that at this point I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope.  As you can imagine, the empty barrel crashed down on me.

I trust this answers your concern.  Please know that I am finished with trying to do the job alone.

(Somehow even though that is clearly fictional I found it hysterically funny the other day ~ clearly I needed a good laugh). 

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