Laugh Every Day

"Laugh every day" is pretty much my motto. If I can't find anything funny in a day, I'll actively seek it out. Usually something like a tortoise with bad breath is enough to just ease the tension! And when I say it, I really mean it (about laughing every day, not about tortoises with bad breath, although I do mean that too). I've learned through the years that sometimes there's not a heck of a lot to laugh about in life and that you have to make the best of a bad situation. Sometimes, being able to change your circumstances can be out of your control but the one thing you can do is change your mood.

My mum is a prime example. She has been plagued by terrible health for many years and a few years ago she wound up in the emergency room with respiratory problems as a consequence of a really bad chest cold. She was on a nebulizer in the emergency room but was still able to laugh and joke with a particularly sassy and fun South African nurse. Maybe it's the British in her, the whole, "keep calm and carry on" attitude. In fact, when you read diaries of people who were affected by the Blitz, they really DID make the best of a bad situation. I've read diaries and letters where people have been in the underground stations, and it was a lot of people in a terribly frightening situation making the best of it, sharing food, cups of tea, stories, looking after each other and one another's children.

In my case, yesterday I even laughed at my appalling essay effort. It's taken me two weeks and a lot of sleepless nights to get anything together remotely resembling a 3,000 word argument. Add to that stress from the cutbacks on campus which are affecting me both as a student and as a staff member, as well as The Man being a staff member two, and the fact I have a minor bout of depression and it's been hell. But I had to laugh when describing my argument to The Man. I said;

"Well, first it starts with: "I'm going to talk about France and England and their Reformations. Paragraph about France! Something vaguely related to France! Insert quote from crusty old historian here! Well, Henry did something somewhat related...Yay! Henry! Back to France! Insert random fact here! More quotes!"

You get the picture. I had to laugh otherwise I would cry. We talk so much about happiness and how to get it, but resilience in times of great stress is just as important.