Tag Archives: smiling

Oct28

The Funny Bones

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This week, the Dalai Lama provided a bit for The Daily Beast from his new book My Spiritual Journey. The whole article stems around the power of laughter and smiling. It’s no secret that I truly do enjoy laughing. I think a good belly laugh can go a long way. And I think a day is successful when I laugh until I can’t breathe, squirt something out of my nose, snort, double over in pain, etc. A few of what the Dalai (or is it Lama?) wrote in his book makes me eager to pick up a copy:

We are always amusing ourselves, teasing each other, joking. It’s our habit.

I truly believe that this idea of constant joking is key to my life being as fantastic as it is. Yea, life is rough. And the world is flat. And woe is me. But focusing on all of these doesn’t do anyone any good. It’s finding the humor in every situation I encounter that makes me able to continue on, no matter the challenge or problem. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I would never leave home.

If we want those smiles, we must create the reason to make them appear.

Nothing lights up my life more than giving someone a smile. It’s something we all have in abundance in our lives. Our time, our money, hell our life only has so much “wealth” to it. But smiles? Those are something we can easily pull out at any time to change any type of mood. Life is only what you make of it. It’s only what you put in to it. So why not create fantastic moments that leave people with a feeling of jubilation?

I try to remember these ideas when I get wrapped up in a moment or argument. Will this matter in five years? Will I still feel this angry in five minutes? I have yet to answer these questions with affirmative yeses. So instead, I smile and laugh at myself for taking life way too seriously.

 

Despite wearing a Cubs shirt, and being surrounded by Cubs fans, I'm elated. Has everything to do with the company you keep, and mainly, spending an afternoon with Manch.