Want a Good Laugh?

That deep down in the belly, laugh 'til you cry, face hurts laugh?

When's the last time you did that? A few minutes ago? Yesterday? Last week? Can you even remember the last time?

I can't. It's not that I want to be the voice of all things serious. I suspect my issue is that I'm not open to funny or not looking for it. I'm sure I could find excuses but really, what excuse is there to not be laughing?

My life must be full of potentially highly humorous moments. I mean if you saw the goofballs I live with... And I can laugh at myself, in theory. I mean I think it's funny, whether I guffaw out loud is debatable. Yet, I seem to find more reasons to get upset with myself over the flubs and cry rather than see the humor and laugh.

Yesterday I made the Husband a birthday cake from scratch. The blasted thing would not come out of the pan. I did everything you're supposed to and still left a lovely layer in both 8" round pans. I could have laughed, but I didn't. I got cranky and cried and when the Husband said, "it will still taste good" (Always the cup half-full person...so annoying sometimes!) I told him, through my tears, to "shut up!" Because I am my mother's daughter and it didn't look perfect and it was his birthday and the fact that the Ace of Cakes wouldn't be impressed by my creation somehow negated the effort and love with which it was made. ("Shut up", on the other hand, is both a wonderful example to my children and a little known way of expressing affection and Birthday wishes....) [Insert eye rolls here]

It would have been much better to see the humor in the cake mess and laugh and joke, but I am not always good at the lemonade from lemons thing. I want to be. I dream of it in much the same way I want to love camping because it's such a great experience for the boys but the dirt and heat and bugs..yeah I just end up feeling grimy and grumpy.

So I need to laugh more and rant and cry less. If life would just be what I wanted, it would be easier. But that's not really the way it works, is it? It's about attitude.

When I started writing this last year, I posted a picture of a sign in a restaurant that read, "If you can't change your situation, change your attitude." Well, I think I need to work a little (or a lot) harder on a better attitude and then perhaps the situation will turn around too...and I will laugh over flubbed cakes and not bite everyone's head off when things don't go my way.

I hope you can find some funny things in your day that make you laugh until you cry. I think we all could use them on a regular basis.

-Peace