Tender Laughing Care

My neighbor came by and informed me, one afternoon, that him and his wife were going through a messy break up.  He warned us that she might stop by and try to convince us of some things about him that were untrue.  He claimed that she had lost her mind and had gone crazy!  He said to contact him if we saw her in the neighborhood.  At this same time my husband was running for State Auditor in the upcoming election and things can get a little intense when you face people that disagree with you politically as a potential representative.  Luckily we have never experienced anything too crazy because of our political beliefs, but we are always aware that things can happen.   Let's just say it was a little bit of a stressful time.

Later that evening I was talking with my husband, Jared, when we heard a knock at the door.  My husband approached the door and asked who was there, when there was no answer we got a little suspicious.  Oh well they were gone now, but they were not.  They knocked again only this time with more vigor, Jared asked again "who's there?" Still no answer, I started to get a little nervous and about 2 minutes later the knock came with even more force and I thought they were going to break down the door!  Now my heart was racing and I started thinking "Is that my crazy neighbor, would she really break down our door?" As I ushered the kids into the back bedroom, my husband called the police.  We heard no more knocks after that, but my husband told the officer he was not going to answer the door.  When the officer arrived and we confirmed that he was indeed a policeman, my husband opened the door and they greeted each other.  They both looked down at the same time to find a nice, cute little plate of goodies with the note "You've been BOOED!"  Jared shouted "OH CHURCH PEOPLE!"  Yes the pieces of this puzzle were falling into place now and Yes we had been doorbell ditched by some 12 and 13 year old girls in our ward!  Him and the officer both had a good laugh!

At church the next week I found out that the young women did indeed try to kick in our door desperate for us to answer, I guess. I had to explain the circumstances surrounding that day, that put us on edge. They were so sorry, but I just could not stop laughing!  Do you have experiences like this in your life?  After we figured out what really happened we laughed so hard about it, it was then that I realized how much I needed to laugh after that mildly scary situation.

You may not think about it, but you might go days, weeks, possibly even months without laughing.  Life gets so serious sometimes and we can get stuck in our monotonous routines.  Have you ever just started laughing over nothing or something slightly funny and then can't stop?  I'm pretty sure every teenage girl has, but even as an adult I have done this.  I think this happens when we are starved of laughter and the seriousness builds until something has to give.  I remember one night talking with my husband and he was being really romantic and me being the hopeless romantic that I am, was eating it up.  Jared being the hopeless anything but romantic that he is, was having a rare and valuable moment, I mean it was a moment to be treasured.  I was almost tearing up when he cracked some joke about a woman and her checkbook, I don't even remember what the joke was but I laughed until I cried and then laughed some more!  That is Jared's best quality, making people laugh!

I think the times I have laughed the hardest are when I'm around my sister, Megan.  Last year her and my mom threw my daughter Lucy a birthday party.  Since we live in different states she invited all of her kids' friends.  They had fun playing in the pool and having a water fight.  The real fun started when my sister handed out those fake teeth you buy at Halloween, and she commenced taking her version of glamor shots!  All of the boys there loved it and played along because it made them laugh!  She took enough silly pictures to keep anyone laughing for days!  She talked about posting an ad in the paper for glamor shots and school pictures while displaying these beauties!  Glamor shots anyone?! HAHA!
  
On our most recent visit to my sister's, my daughter, Lucy became obsessed with the treadmill in her home gym.  Megan and I were in the gym with her one morning as she was walking on the treadmill she adjusted the speed a little too high.  You can probably guess what happened next! BOOM, she hit the ground running, and I don't mean that in the good sense of the term!  While my sister was paralyzed in her laughter, I ran to her to make sure she was not hurt.  Lucy is a tough cookie most of the time, considering she is only 4 years old.  When stuff like this happens it's best to leave her alone and let her hide.  She does not want hugs or kisses or any kind of sympathy attention.  She gets embarrassed real easily.  After awhile Megan pulled out her phone and started looking up videos of people falling off of treadmills.  In no time Lucy was laughing at herself!  I thought"I guess that's one way to treat embarrassment"!  When we do something utterly stupid or embarrassing, it helps to know we are not alone.  Yes, the remedy for any and all embarrassment is one click away on YouTube.  No matter what you have done someone else has done it or worse!   Lucy still talks about that incident with laughter.  It is important to laugh at ourselves in these times when we want to run away or stick our head in a hole.


To be clear, I am not advocating for making fun of others or laughing and teasing at inappropriate times.  When it involves other people we do have to be careful and have compassion.  Laughing at yourself or with someone can be good for the soul.

If you have had a bad day, or a bad week, or you haven't laughed in awhile, I would highly recommend watching country music videos from the 90's!  My husband was searching for a music video one night just to listen to the song and once we saw how cheesy it was we continued to watch more until we were both overcome with laughter!  Another suggestion is to hang out with best friends.  I have never found laughter more welcome than in the company of my best friends and close family!

Whatever is getting you down in life, remember to laugh!  We were meant to laugh, we were made to experience joy!  "Adam fell that men might be; that men are, that they might have joy" 2Nephi 2:25.   Here comes the LDS cliche ALL-MEN-JOY, AL-MOND-JOY, Haha, get it!?!

Empower yourself!  Go eat Almond Joy's, better yet eat MOUNDS OF JOYS, Haha!!  Mounds are my favorite!! Find something to make you laugh or make someone else laugh! Laughter is after all the best medicine!