The gift of Humor

by LANITA BRADLEY BOYD

“The cheerful heart is good medicine” is a good reminder for all of us. Sometimes we must be intentional about having a sense of humor and sometimes it sneaks up on us.

So what are some situations in which we might need an extra dose of cheerfulness?
Challenging traffic situations often require a sense of humor. Instead of heading into road rage, I can make a joke out of the other driver’s rudeness. I learned this when our children first began to talk and to imitate what I said in our car to other drivers who, of course, couldn’t hear me. So I began making jokes about the other driver. “Poor man!” I might say. “He’s in a hurry to get in front of us because he is desperate to go to the bathroom!” Bathroom humor always gets a laugh from children.

“Look at that slow-poke driver,” I might say. “I’ll bet he left home too soon and he has to drive slowly so he won’t get there too early. You know how we are never ready if a guest comes early.”

My husband’s humorous approach is to call every driver Jackson. “Watch out, there, Jackson!” he’ll say when a driver is less than courteous, which, for some reason, our family always thinks is funny.

Over the years we’ve often transported people to various events. Once, Mary wanted to be dropped off in a very dangerous section of town. My husband said, “Mary, I don’t stop in this part of town. I’ll slow down and when we get to where you want to go, you just jump out.” She and our children gaped a moment before they got the joke and burst out laughing, relieving some of our tension.

From the minute she slams the car door, Jerlene’s “stream of consciousness” monologue would rival William Faulkner’s: “My brother gave me tickets to Kings Island last week…I love the rides, especially the Ferris wheel…look at that woman…she needs to be jogging, doesn’t she? But then I do, too…I lost ten pounds last year, but I got it all back…that’s a cute little dog, isn’t it? Looks nothing like Junior…he’d eat her up…but not that he’s a bad dog…that guy had better put on a coat—out in this weather…I don’t know what he’s thinking…I don’t want to be sick again…I’ve got high cholesterol…I think it was 357 and I don’t know what that means…I can’t believe those people already have up their Christmas lights before Halloween…” Directly asking her to be quiet only gets us a puzzled look before she begins again.

Making messes that aren’t dangerous is another time for humor. When my granddaughter was three, a cup of chocolate milk slipped from her hand and the bottom of the plastic cup hit flat on the floor. The chocolate milk erupted like Old Faithful, spraying chocolate milk over both of us. The stricken look on her face told me she didn’t need the typical response.

I laughed and said, “That was amazing! How did you do that? Wow! That was quite a show.” And I laughed again at the shock on her face.

“I’m not in trouble?” she asked, and I assured her it was an accident and she was not in trouble. Later she relished telling her parents about the funny and amazing thing she had done. (Of course they didn’t consider it quite as funny as she and I did.)

Any time I mess up is a time for laughing at myself. If my husband is driving and my directions don’t work out well, we’ve learned to laugh at ourselves rather than get irritated with each other. One of his favorites is an old saying: Don’t sweat the small stuff; it’s all small stuff. We’ve shortened it to a cheerful “More small stuff!”

If I burn our dinner, we amiably see that as an opportunity to eat out or to have grilled cheese sandwiches. If he shrinks my shirt in the dryer, I can laugh at how tight it is on me and put it in the ragbag or donate it. If someone forgets to meet me for lunch, I can find comfort in the fact that someone else can be as forgetful as I am and forgive her with a laugh. More small stuff.

Once, early in our married life we had a large family from church over for a spaghetti dinner. As I was draining the spaghetti, it all fell past the colander and into the sink. I stood there, horrified. Immediately my friend laughed and said, “Oh, I’ve done that! Just put it back in the pan and rinse it off. It’ll be fine.” And her laughter assured me that it would, indeed, be okay. More small stuff.

My friend says he has a “hyper family.” His son is hyperactive, his daughter is hypersensitive, his wife hyperventilates, and he has hypertension. His sense of humor helps the family to cope with their various situations. As Solomon said, “The cheerful heart has a continual feast.”

Once, my mother called to ask my speech topic for their Ladies’ Inspiration Day. I said, “A Life of Love,” in keeping with their theme.

Thirty minutes later she called back. “Hon, I didn’t have a pen with me when you told me your title and now I’ve forgotten part of it. Was it ‘Love in the Family’ or ‘A Family of Love’?” Fortunately, my sense of humor saved me from some biting comment about being prepared before making a phone call for information. More small stuff.

One of my favorite greeting card messages says on the front, “It will all be okay in the end.” Then inside reads: “If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” This is a pointed message for us all; challenges can still work out for good. And a strong sense of humor helps us through those difficult times.

Laughter lessens stress and brings its own enjoyment. We can embrace opportunities to avoid stress, and instead we can enjoy the gift of humor. Whether we need medicine or are enjoying a feast, stressful times in life can be alleviated by a chuckle or even a good belly laugh.

LANITA BRADLEY BOYD is a freelance writer from Kentucky.

©2009, Valley Living