Flowers of laughter

A small girl thoughtfully watched her mother working among plants in their colourful garden. Suddenly she said, “I know why the flowers grow mommy, they are so pretty they want to get out of the dirt.” What a simple yet profound observation of an innocent and beautiful mind.

Yes, laughter is like these flowers which will make moments of our life rise up from the muck they are stuck in —the muck of fears and uncertainties, the dirt of everyday chaos and confusions.

When our minds become flowerbeds for the flowers of laughter to bloom, we must help and ensure that they get out of the dirt to blossom and beautify the environs of our life by their presence. No matter how great, how successful, how famous a man or a woman is, everyone hungers for joy and laughter to celebrate their high spots in life and to hope for better times when in the doldrums.

The world is full of people who discourage, who pour cold water on others’ enthusiasm or excitement, of people who do not care to know or acknowledge that words of cheer and joy keep a man on his feet —help to sustain and endure. “Life is very short, cut short and curtail your bloated egos, ‘love truly, laugh loudly’ and as a saying goes’ never avoid anything that makes you smile..’

During the dark days of the Civil war, Abraham Lincoln confided in a friend, “with the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die.” If someone as learned and strong as Lincoln had depended on the medicine called ‘laughter’, one can understand how important it is in the lives of people who feel entrapped in fears and failures. Life is hard, it gets harder if you don’t laugh. By reducing mental burdens and kindling hope, laughter can be the most dependable therapy that can bring a balance within you and with others.

One prayer line says —Lord let me live until I die—I want to add ‘let me live in joy till I die’, spreading joyful laughter and receiving the same.

You cannot take your money to heavens with you, but you can send it ahead of you by bringing smiles to the lips of the distressed, here and now, and enjoy wealth as peace and bliss.