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On Humour, tranquility and the Angels

People can waste a lot of time taking life seriously and worrying about perceived problems. My friend Charlie reached a period in his life when he felt burdened by problems and worries. He spent most of his time seriously worrying over what he was going to do. While driving on some treacherous mountain curves one day, pondering over the serious issues he faced, he took one curve too fast and found himself looking down several hundred feet of mountain with his van on two wheels. In that instant, Charlie realised that he was probably going to die and that all the situations he was so worried about would never be resolved. Then a sudden force (his guardian angel, no doubt) pulled Charlie's van back into control, and he was saved from imminent death. After the shock subsided, he found himself laughing hysterically at how absurd his worrying was. Nothing seemed so serious anymore; suddenly, he was struck by how funny everything was , and he laughed and laughed. Charlie realised that the moments he had spent worrying were wasted time, which could just as easily have been spent in enjoyment. Those of us who become consumed with the illusion of seriousness in our lives usually reach a turning point. Sometimes this turning point happens dramatically, as in a near-death experience, other times it happens less dramatically, as in a sudden realisation that you have spent weeks and months without having any fun. If you are not planning to have a near death experience any time soon but you are plagued by seriousness, pay attention to the time and energy you spend on seriousness. Start by writing down all the serious issues you are dealing with in your life at the moment. Now look at how funny these issues look on paper, and let yourself laugh out loud. If the issues don't strike you as funny and you can't bring yourself to laugh, just look for some aspect of humour and lightness, however small. Sometimes when we start laughing at our lives, we end up hysterical, and we may cry, scream, or shout out the window. The point is we need a release now and then and laughter is a good one.

Give up, give in, and let go. Pretend that you are filled with helium and the only thing keeping you on the ground are the serious issues in your life; let yourself rise above them for a different perspective. If you saw the movie Mary Poppins, Think back to the scene with the song "I Love to Laugh", the more people laughed, the higher they rose until they reached the ceiling. When they wanted to come down, they had to think of something sad and heavy. Take a break from the seriousness of life; the angels will encourage it. Remember G.K. Chestertons words: "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly".

Terry Lynn Taylor

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