Do you keep your sense of humor when things are awful? Can you always find something to laugh about? Is your life full of giggles and guffaws and chortles, no matter how bad things get?

There are definitely times when life is serious business - when someone is ill, when a house burns down, after a car accident, a death in the family, natural disasters, etc.

But there are still humorous sides to all these things. Really, there are. And if laughter is the best medicine, well, maybe humor (and laughter) are part of the healing process.

I was recently stuck in St. Croix for two extra days after a workshop. The first night we returned to the hotel, unable to leave due to a storm forming on top of us; we arrived soaking wet, cold, and frustrated after 3 or 4 hours of waiting and waiting and several taxi trips back and forth across the island. We checked back into the hotel, receiving new rooms and new keys. I was assigned room 176 - and since I had been in room 177 the previous two nights, I started laughing and joked, "Look, I'm my own neighbor!"

One of the men in the group looked at me, shook his head, and said, "Phebe, I'm amazed that you can always laugh at something, no matter how bad it is."

I think it's healthy. I can't possibly imagine going through life all dismal and glum and serious. Life is not meant to be hard work. Life is meant to be JOYFUL!!!!

Fortunately, I married someone with a similar attitude. His mother passed away a few years ago, and we flew up for the funeral. On the way to the house, his brother said, "I couldn't get in touch with you, so I decided to have Mom buried in one of those track suits she used to wear around." DH started laughing, and blurted out, "What, you thought she'd be sprinting to heaven?" I was in the back laughing myself, and said, "Oh no! She's going to find herself on the other side, and be totally appalled that she's not all dressed up in her best dress!" The two of us were just giggling, and finally his brother saw the humor and started laughing, too. And it helped. There is a time for weeping - but there's also a time for laughter. (Really, that's in Ecclesiastes! Also a time to mourn and a time to dance! LIFE CAN BE JOYFUL!!!)

So - keep laughing. Find the humor in every and any situation. It exists. And laughing will help you keep positive, keep going, keep dealing with life.

In the words of the Bard:
"If I laugh at any mortal thing, 'tis but that I may not weep." -William Shakespeare