Laughter

The concept of Intentional Living sounds so serious. I think there is a misnomer that if someone is living intentionally than they will be always serious, always aware, always in a state of meditation. I believe if someone is living intentionally they are living from a place of lightheartedness. From a place of joy and creativity and laughter.

If we are living with intent we are able to see the trauma in life AND the joy in life. We are able to laugh with our son as he drops the milk accidentally in the morning rather than yell at him. We are able to laugh at ourselves when we forget our keys for the millionth time.

One of my favorite things to do is laugh, I love the feeling of a good belly laugh or even a light-hearted chuckle. Today as I rode the treadmill at the gym I was watching someone walk through the gym and wasn't paying attention and nearly fell off the treadmill. After I righted myself I started laughing--as did the person next to me and we started up a conversation about the challenges of walking. Afterward the guy came up to me and said he appreciated our lighthearted conversation and the chance to laugh.

I realized that in this heavy time of a recession economy, war and uncertainty we need a little laughter. We need to look at the world through fresh eyes. Yes, there is trauma and grief and we need to express the appropriate pain and sorrow AND we need to express the every day joys and laughter that we miss. If we are living intentionally then we are aware that life isn't all sadness and gloom, there are days when everything goes wrong and those are the days we need to laugh the loudest. Laughter heals the soul, lifts our hearts and makes the world a better place. What have you laughed about today?