We all need a good laugh

I took my daughter to see Robin Williams live this past Friday night. We both needed a good laugh and we definitely got one. It's amazing how energetic he is - sustaining his comic intensity for two hours. As expected we left with aching sides from laughing so hard.

Leave it to Robin Williams to put all the current troubles and issues of our lives in perspective through comedy. His material ranged from politics to the current economic crisis to divorce and more. I'm sure one of his stops on this tour will be on cable in the future so catch it for a darn good laugh. I think these days we all need one.

I know it's difficult to laugh these days with so many pressures on us -- financial disasters seem to be happening at every turn -- but laugh we must. It's either laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Not laughter at someone else's expense, not derisive laughter, not uncharitable laughter, but a laugh that helps lighten my mood and put things in perspective.

It wasn't that long ago that my daughter was talking with a friend about what a tough time she was having. We were in our yoga class and she was lamenting on some of her challenges with school and she continued with this theme on the way home. I recall saying, yes, times were better in the old days, coming across the country towards the west in covered wagons fighting off anything that threatened survival. The bottom line - we all need to keep things in perspective and sometimes that is very, very hard to do.

Going through some recent trying times myself, dear friends have reached out to console me and have asked if there was anything they could do to help. The thing I've asked for the most has been good thoughts, prayers, positive thoughts, whatever floats their boat and I often get the reaction, "Are you sure that's enough?" Yes, it's more than enough. So many people don't have anyone sending them positive energy or prayers so when someone does that for me I feel very blessed. Having people in my life who wish me well is priceless and guess what? I'll take it!

I've also responded to concerns for me with, "I'm not in Iraq being shot at and I'm not an unemployed woman with five children to feed." Now both of these hit close to home for me. I'm an army veteran, which I've pointed out in previous blogs, and I grew up in a family of seven children, an alcoholic father who didn't bring home the bacon, and a dysfunctional mother who was incredibly desperate to feed her children. I know it could always be worse because I've lived it.

So, keep things in perspective and have a good laugh to relieve the pressure because there's certainly a lot of pressure going around these days. Have the best day you can each and everyday and strive to appreciate what you do have in your life. It might just surprise you how much you really do have. In fact, if you have a family and friends who love you, you have the most important thing in the world.

Take care.