Life isn’t always fair or fun.  It can be full of fear, sadness, and unknowns.  We often mess up, are imperfect and make poor decisions.  Lately, I’ve felt like there are so many bad things all around me - bad things affecting strangers, my friends, and my family.  Sometimes, it’s easy to be so focused on the bad, that we begin to expect it.  I even verbalized this to a friend, “all this bad stuff is happening all around me, and it’s just a matter of time ‘til it happens to me.”  I sometimes almost feel guilty (rather than grateful) when bad things aren’t happening to me. 
 
I was right in the middle of this spiral of sadness and expectation of disaster when I got a text from my cousin, Darra.  A few months ago, I'd ask her to send me the next funny thing that happened to her and I'd include it in an installment of 'My Life In Laughter.'  These are posts that include audio recordings of me telling a funny story and laughing at myself.  I recorded a few gems including Cozy Shirt, Gold Saturn, Drive Through Judgment and A Cat Litter Incident.  I did this, not because I think I'm so hilarious, but because I truly believe in the power of laughter - especially when we can laugh at ourselves!  I knew I'd soon run out of funny material, and that Darra was a great storyteller that had funny stuff happen to her all the time (she was actually on Candid Camera once!)

Well, she came through at exactly the right time!  She made me laugh so hard listening to her tell this story of travelling alone to her grandmothers’ funeral.  Doesn’t sound very funny, does it?  But it just showed me that God gave us laughter even in the midst of sadness.  And to get a little deep and metaphorical – the title of her recording “Travelling Solo” – made me think how we really aren’t alone, and giving ourselves permission to laugh – especially when we share it with others – is good therapy to get through dark times.  When we are sad, scared, angry and our lives feel chaotic, maybe a little laughter shared with those around us can bring us a joy.  Take a listen to Darra’s ability to laugh, even in one of the saddest times.  Don’t feel bad laughing with her – it helps us all to heal!

Sometimes you just have to laugh (or else you would cry!)  One thing I try to do a lot of is laugh at myself.  It is such a good stress reliever and gives you perspective on how much of life can be experienced differently if we'd just laugh about it.  

Last Fall after a frenzied attempt at efficiency, I recorded this as a reminder of the age old adage that haste makes waste.  This experience included cat litter, soccer practice, and watching my mouth.  Since in the past week, I've dealt with all three of those things, it reminded me of this little bit of My Life In Laughter.

Sometimes you just have to laugh (or else you would cry!)  One thing I try to do a lot of is laugh at myself.  It is such a good stress reliever and gives you perspective on how much of life can be experienced differently if we'd just laugh about it.  On the first of each month, I'll share some of My Life in Laughter with you. 

​If you missed the first installment, listen to the story of my cozy shirt here.   

In today's episode of My Life in Laughter, I tell the story of the "Gold Saturn."  This is one of the strangest and funniest experiences I've ever had!  Click play below and laugh with me! 

Sometimes you just have to laugh (or else you would cry!)  One thing I try to do a lot of is laugh at myself.  It is such a good stress reliever and gives you perspective on how much of life can be experienced differently if we'd just laugh about it.  I often record myself talking while I'm commuting - to help me work through difficult issues, document a great idea, or talk through the steps of a project.  Sometimes during those talks with myself, I crack myself up!  Listening back to myself laughing (at my own expense) is such a mood booster, so I thought I'd share some of My Life in Laughter with you.  I'm going to make this a special feature of the blog during the first week of every month in addition to the regular weekly posts.  If you have a recording of yourself telling a funny story and laughing, send it to me via the contact page's upload section.  I'd love to share your laughter with everyone!

In today's episode of My Life in Laughter, I tell the story of my "Cozy Shirt."  I scoured my basement to see if I had saved the shirt, but unfortunately, the '"Cozy Shirt" is likely in a thrift store somewhere...  I did find a few pictures online to give you an idea of the quality of this early 1990's cat sweatshirt!  Click play below and enjoy (remember I was in the car, so there's some road noise and the clicking of the turn signal!)  After you listen, I've got to know, am I the only one who had a cozy shirt??