A few months ago I was in Walmart. I was actually in the bathroom in Walmart. Already in there were two young girls and their mom. They were all giggling and laughing about something. As they all finished and left the bathroom, they were still laughing. It reminded me of being a kid and how my sisters and I would get laughing about the silliest things. This was especially true when we were on one of our vacations.
I walked out of the bathroom smiling so I explained to my fiance what I had just observed. Seeing them enjoying themselves had put me in a good mood where normally at Walmart I'm just wanting to get our stuff and be done.
As we walked about Walmart, running our errands, I saw this little family several more times. I even commented that they must be on vacation because they act very stress-free. Every time they made me smile and I just wanted to join in their simple fun.
That's the point. It was simple.
Life seems simple for kids. Kids enjoy life. At times my three sisters and I would dress up and pose for a picture. But in one particular picture I am laughing. My head is tilt back and you can tell that something is really cracking me up. I can't help but smile at the picture and wish I was there again.
For this family though, it wasn't just the girls having a good time. It was also the mom. More often you see the scene of kids having fun and the parents yelling at them because they're 'messing around'.
The more I thought about it the more I realized that I, too, get caught up in life. I go through the motions of just trying to get things done and move on to the next thing I have to do. Why do we do that to ourselves?
About once a year my sisters, mom, grandma and I get together for a girls weekend. Oh man do we laugh!! That one weekend can be such a stress-reliever for me.
Why do we have to wait til we're on vacation or having a girls weekend though? Yes, those times are extra fun and that's great. But should we just go through the other days in life with a frown and hurrying onto the next stress? No!
That day at Walmart opened my eyes to all kinds of things I was missing but most important, Laughter. They say it's the best medicine and I truly feel it is.
Think about it.
When you're mad and someone makes you laugh.. are you still mad? If you're crying and something makes you laugh.. is your cry different? Think about other times where laughter is the last thing you're feeling. Would laughter help?
That leads me to ask... Do you laugh? I mean REALLY laugh?
There's a difference between kind of chuckling and having a truly deep down, belly laugh. There's also a difference between laughing at a funny text or email or even a funny movie and laughing with people. When you laugh at an email or a movie, the laughing doesn't last long. When you're with others and you're all laughing, it can go on for a while. Right?
I encourage you today to laugh. And laugh with those around you. Look at each moment and decide to laugh.
Sometimes my fiance thinks it's funny to drive the cart crazy in Walmart or the grocery store. He runs around and swerves in and out. I used to get so annoyed with this and say, "Really? We need to get done!" Well guess what. We didn't NEED to get done and he was enjoying life. So now I try not to be annoyed but laugh with him. I slow down and enjoy the moment.
That family from Walmart that day was on vacation. As it turned out they were parked right next to us and they had an out-of-state license plate. I still watched them as they laughed into their van. I wondered if they were like that when they weren't on vacation. But then I realized it didn't matter. I want to enjoy life, vacation or not.
So Laugh. And Laugh Hard!
