The final chapter if you will, of looking at how funny men are.
In hopes that you are not thinking of me being a bitter old woman, hardened from what life has thrown at me, I do want to remind you that this is all being said in fun. What is life if it is filled with vinegar? We have been given a great gift when we relax our facial muscles and smile. When there is laughter in our lives, we're adding to our years. I'm guilty of using laughter to lighten the mood when the situation is stressful or tense; there's enough drama in the world; if I had to choose between a drama or a comedy to read or watch, I most assuredly would chose the comedy. With a comedy, when you reflect on it, it still brings a smile. The times that I reflect on most in my life is not the times of great pain and loss, but rather the times that I laughed until I cried and my cheeks hurt. There's nothing more refreshing than spending time with an elderly person that has learned to enjoy life and in sharing their story, you can see the twinkle in their eye and know that without a doubt that twinkle is residue of joy that only laughter can bring.
Laughter is contagious, if you don't believe me, listen to someone attempt to tell a story about something that is funny to them, they get so caught-up in telling the story that they re-live the event and can hardly share it for laughing at it; you, in turn while listening and watching them try to share it, cannot help but smile or laugh along with them without knowing exactly how the story will end. You can't help yourself, it's contagious! When I think of getting older, and I am doing just that, I hope that when someone looks at my face that isn't quite as firm as it was twenty years ago, that they see the laugh-lines only. The more difficult times of my life were the times that I forgot how to laugh. When that happened, it opened the door for depression and oppression. These are two things that will continually rob you of life itself. I had come to a place that the few times I did laugh, it was short and the times of laughter seemed more and more stretched. Another thing that seemed to happen quite often was that when I did laugh, it was quickly snatched away from me by this ominous force that lingered ever near; ready at any moment to steal my joy. I found myself after several years very, very unhappy, and only a shell of who I had been at one time in my life; existing not living. Looking back on it I'm saddened of all the times that I allowed myself to be robbed of those wonderful times in my life. If I could teach anything to you, I would choose to teach you to laugh. Some people may disagree with me, they tend to think that teaching you how to be financially stable, or independent would be the thing to teach; how to survive on your own.
What is surviving when there is no joy? My son described the sound that you make when you kiss someone as being all the love that you have compacted into an explosion when your lips touch. Laughter is similar, when your body can't hold anymore joy it must relieve some of the pressure with an explosion of laughter. I leave you with this thought at the risk of sounding cliché, live like you only have one day left, love with every ounce of strength that you have in you, and laugh like it's going to be your last.
