Let it be...and have a laugh while you're at it.

The past few posts have been pretty heavy…betrayal, heart break, deception, revenge.  It’s a little much…I am starting to feel like my life resembles a late night 80’s soap opera. 

Yet through all the chaos, I can still see the humour and joy that sneaks into my life, usually unexpected, but always appreciated.  Really, who doesn’t need some laughter in their day?

Until recently, I haven’t really felt like smiling a whole heck of a lot.  Once I figured out that I control the path I take, I control my actions and reactions….I can choose to be miserable or happy…I felt the happiness creep back into my heart.  It was like a giant smiley face smacked me upside the head.

Happiness, laughter, joy...they are simple and powerful and healing.

Those three things seem to wind their way into my every day, and mostly it’s the simplest things that make me smile. 

A few weeks ago after a particularly nasty argument with my ex regarding something that I can’t even recall now, I remember thinking; just shut your mouth or karma is going to bite you in the ass my friend.  When he showed up the next day to pick the kids up, he was sporting 6 stitches across his upper lip.  Seems that he got a ball in the mouth at baseball and I had to laugh…that my friends is karma at its finest.  I laughed about that for days.

When my kid’s fish died and they asked me what I had done with him, I responded with “I flushed him.”  My daughter’s shrieking reply of “That’s no way to honour the dead!” had me turning my head to stifle a giggle so I could appear horrified I had done such a thing.

The day that I found out that my son proclaimed math was for “chumps” and he didn’t need it because his lifelong dream of being a pirate didn’t require grade 2 math, kept me chuckling.

How about when a bird shits on you while you are inside your car, under a covered drive through bank machine.  That's funny in all kinds of ways.

Listening to my kids decide who would win in a fight, Darth Vader or Dumbledore, always puts a smile on my face.  As a side note, Dumbledore would kick ass.

Being silly brings me joy.

Someone tripping, slipping, falling and aren’t seriously hurt (pride doesn’t count)…I am sorry but that’s always funny.  I will ask you if you are ok while I try to hold it together but I will laugh at you.  I can’t help it. 

I can’t help but laugh when I jump out from behind a door etc…and scare the pants off someone.  I know, it’s sick and twisted, but it’s funny.

Stupid movies always make me laugh…I am thinking along the lines of Napoleon Dynamite, Christmas Vacation.

When my son tries to make the “loser” sign with his thumb and index finger, but it’s always backwards because he is left handed…yes even that makes me laugh.

You know when a huge laugh comes right from your gut unexpectedly….isn’t that the best feeling?

An unexpected text message makes me stupid happy.  Not only does it make me happy, but it often makes me a laugh because I have some very twisted individuals in my life who appreciate my love of all things sick and weird.

You can be sure I will laugh at your one liner, sarcastic comment or dry humour. 

If the jar of nuts I just purchased says “may contain nuts” I always crack a smile. 

Having a funeral at 8:00 on a week day morning for a dead bird found beak up on our lawn even made me smile as my daughter wished it well on its journey into the afterlife.  It was her pondering whether the bird would come back as a cat to fight the neighbour cat who she thought killed it in the first place that had me giggling.

Sometimes I just laugh for no reason…the kind of laugh that takes over for a few minutes, tears rolling, no sound coming out at all, kind of laugh.  It must be a built in defence mechanism for stress.

I will always laugh when someone else is laughing.  The funnier their laugh, the more I come apart at the seams.

My co-workers add comic relief to my day, every day, by doing nothing more than being themselves.

Smart ass comments, quick witted observations and good natured teasing will likely get a huge laugh from the very centre of my soul.

Singing in the car…loud…makes me happy.  Music in general makes my spirit happy.

Mishaps, general clumsiness, and words that don’t come out just right make me smile.

The kids and I performing our after dinner dance routines in the kitchen always has me laughing.  Have you ever seen my “sprinkler”?  lol…google that one if you aren’t sure what that is.

Listening to my kids whisper and giggle to each other long after they are in bed swells my heart with more joy than is humanly possible.  It puts an instant smile on my face.

I have amazing friends and family in my life who provide me with constant laughter.  It could be a text message, an email, something posted on my facebook wall…or just a hilarious face to face conversation.  Those are things that brighten my day, every day.

I could go on and on and on about the things that add humour and laughter to my day.  It’s all these little moments of joy, the moments that we could let slip away unnoticed, that make me happy, that put a smile on my face, that remind me to stop taking life so seriously once in a while.

It’s a total cliché, but yes, life is too short to be miserable. Find the humour in your day; embrace the silly, laugh for goodness sake. 

How do I do this?  How can I laugh when I really want to cry, shout, wither away, and hide from the world?  I have made myself become more aware by simply allowing myself to “be” in the moment.  Instead of “letting things go” I am practicing the art of “let it be”.  I just breathe and let the moment be what it is.  When you start to accept there are just some things out of your control and you “let it be”, it becomes easier to find humour in everyday life.  Letting go implies that it was never important in the first place.  Letting it be, reminds you that even though things are rough, you can still enjoy the small moments of joy, the unexpected laughter that is woven into your day. 

Today is the day I promise myself to let it be...whatever that may mean in that moment.

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