A few weekends I laughed ? true, full-belly laughs. The type of laugh that had me bent over, catching my breath and literally slapping my leg. The type of laugh that led me to lying on the floor, yet at the same time desperately needing to run to the bathroom. The type of laugh that felt like I?d done a thousand stomach crunches.
During a girls? weekend at my sister?s in Charleston, SC, we took my four year old nephew, C, for some good ol? fashioned fall fun.? The hearty laughing was brought on by an unassuming jump pillow at Boone Hall Pumpkin Patch ? think bounce house without the walls, and on which adults are welcome along with the kids.
There was a group of kids bouncing all around, with their parents sitting on the sidelines. My sister, girlfriends and me? We tore off our shoes and crawled onto the pillow with C. And that?s when the laughing began. The sheer freedom and joy of bouncing around, up into the gorgeous fall sky, resulted in laughing. And laughing. And laughing. We laughed with each other, we laughed with the other kids, and we laughed with C. We left the pillow for the corn maze and the tractor ride, but returned to the pillow for more bouncing-induced laughs and fun before leaving.
When it was all said and done, it occurred to me ? I hadn?t laughed like that in a long, long time. Sure, I?ve giggled, chuckled and even guffawed. But a full-blown belly laugh? Doesn?t come to mind. And that saddens me.
When the movie ?Michael? came out in the mid-1990s (yes, the one in which John Travolta plays an angel), it quickly became my parents? favorite movie. And their favorite line? ?You gotta learn to laugh.? It is an inspiring quote, just not when you?re in a grumpy mood and it?s said to you by your parents. J
In our house, we DVR most of our TV to avoid ads. However, there?s a VW commercial currently on the air that we will literally rewind for, and watch a few times. It just brings a smile to our faces ? the sheer joy and exhilaration of the laughing.
In a world filled with work and responsibilities and stresses, there just doesn?t seem to be much time for honest joy and laughing. Enough opportunities to reach deep inside and bring back the true, innocent laughing we (hopefully) had as children and lost along the way. When my family needs a smile, we watch this video of my nephew learning to drink from a cup a few years ago ? his laugh is simply contagious.
I for one am going to try and remember those wise words from ?Michael,? modified just a bit: ?you gotta remember how to laugh.? My parents will be thrilled.
Susan
Susan Barnes is a travel writer, editor and photographer. A proud Army brat, she was born on a military base in Belgium and has been on the go ever since. Email Susan at susan@thefullmoxie.com
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Source: http://thefullmoxie.com/2012/10/29/you-gotta-learn-to-laugh/
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