laughter, please

Today's quote comes from pages 234-235 of Lewis Black's book Me of Little Faith, from the chapter entitled "God Knows Funny". Mind you I am not necessarily a religious person, but neither is Mr. Lewis' book trying to preach or convert anyone. This one paragraph really struck me as intersting:



"And imagine a religion where all God asks of you is to have a good laugh and then get back to trying to be a nice person. Let's face it, we could use something like this since we're living in a world that makes most of us so uptight that being nice is an exhausting proposition. Which is why my God would want each and every one of us to laugh - as it simply and miraculously alleviates stress."



Since I'm the kind of person who can't seem to get away from introspective blogs, I'll mention here that lately I've observed that I've been unusually uptight. If you know me well, you know that I'm generally uptight anyway, which means that lately I've been ... making diamonds? So I read that paragraph and am reminded that laughter is a very healthy thing to have in one's life. Perhaps it's not only laughing at the funny, but also being able to laugh at the rediculous or the impossible instead of getting angry that could help me relax and live a healthier life.



Way back in 2008 after returning from a breathtaking trip to New Zealand, I said I should adopt the "No Worries" lifestyle, and I certainly haven't done that yet. Perhaps I should start looking at both that and more laughter, particularly at myself, so that I can sigh and move on with living.