Before you read this article, please click this link and watch the video.
I had this week’s blog all set in my mind. Had done some research towards writing it and knew what I wanted to say. Then, all that changed because of a totally unplanned occurrence. What happened? I laughed. Laughed like I haven’t in a long time. Laughed out loud, often and with others. Here’s how it came about.
After church on Sunday, someone suggested going to see a movie. The film suggested was Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Yes, it’s an animated film, but I was interested because I watched the cartoon 40+ years ago and thought it would be fun and nostalgic. So, eight of us, only two of them children, went to see the movie. It was just funny! I would guess two thirds of the humor was targeted at adults, which explains why we were laughing more than the 12 and 10 year olds with us. Not just chuckles. Not just those short bursts of laughter, but the kind that lasts a while. You know, the kind of laughing that makes you rock back and forth in the seat. We may have looked silly, but didn’t really care. Honestly, I don’t know what the rest of the people in the theatre were doing or thinking, I was too busy laughing with my friends. Then after the movie, we went to dinner and laughed some more. Teased each other as friends do. Retold told some of the jokes from the movie and just laughed at them all over again.
On the way home that evening, I realized that we had just fulfilled the challenge of that video. Did you watch it? Go back up and click the link if you didn’t. We had watched it in church that morning. I had introduced the video and thought it was a good one, but had no idea how relevant it would be a short time later. That video and going to the movie with my friends reminded me of how serious I have become. Too serious. Maybe we all are. As I think about it, don’t we live for those moments of pure joy? Or, at least, shouldn’t we live for those moments? Isn’t that how we define happiness? Not in our paycheck or possessions or accomplishments. It is those moments of laughter and joy that we fondly remember and value. If we take everything else away. Our stuff, our jobs, or achievements, but still share good times with our friends, we can be happy. And the ironic thing about that is that you don’t have to chase those moments. You don’t have to plan, work hard our train to have those moments of joy. They come when you stop trying so hard. They come when you simply are with people you trust and love. They come because we set all the other stuff of life aside and be who we really are. True, we can’t know those moments all the time, but if we keep in mind that they are more important than the things we usually pursue, they might just come more often. When we were kids, we didn’t plan so much. We just did things. And we had fun. I hope I let that happen more often.
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