A Spoonful of Laughter

Laughing can make bad situations seem more bearable, but at the same time, a lack of laughter can make situations worse. I would say that one of my most used methods of dealing with stress is just laughing about it. Although it doesn’t solve much, it helps to lift my mood a little bit and then I can attack my problems from a different angle. One of the best times that I used laughter to help reduce my stress was when I had to drive to Six Flags. Driving to Six Flags doesn’t sound like it could be too stressful, right? I mean after all, I was driving to Six Flags so that I could go spend the day riding roller coasters and having fun. What could be so stressful about that? The answer is Massachusetts drivers A.K.A. Massholes. The first part of the drive wasn’t too bad considering I drive on the highway in Maine all the time, but once we got into Massachusetts that all changed. The drivers in Massachusetts drive with no regard of anyone else. They are simply driving to get to work, or to drop their kids off at school. They do not care about the other drivers on the highway, and it seems that they do not care for their own safety. Once I started seeing those Massachusetts license plates more frequently on the road, I was getting cut off, tailgated, boxed in, etc. I started to get really nervous because I felt like I could die at any moment. Luckily, I had some friends with me to help calm me down. They started to crack jokes about some of the other drivers and we all started breaking out in contagious laughter. Before I knew it, we were making jokes about every car on the highway. Sure it might have been rather rude and judgmental of us to make fun of the little girl who appeared to be covered in glitter in the mini van on our right. But hey, it really helped to bring down the tension that was building in the car. It certainly helped me as the driver to calm down and relax. That’s not to say I didn’t stay alert and ready, after all, I was on the Massachusetts highway. If I did not have my friends there with me to make stupid jokes, I’m not sure I would have made it there and back safely. Plus, making witty jokes about the car packed full of dogs really helped to lift our spirits all day. We went to Six Flags and continued to laugh throughout the day.

I owe a lot to my friends for keeping me sane with their stupid jokes. I think laughter is very important and very special if used in the right circumstances. When prompted with writing about a time laughter made a difficult situation more bearable; I instantly thought about those stories you hear about people laughing at funerals. Situations like those would not be acceptable to laugh in. Luckily, the situation that I found myself in on that summer day was not so serious. My friends and I were able to laugh at what was causing us the most stress at that time. I wouldn’t say that being able to laugh at a difficult situation is an important trait to have, but it helps when nothing else will. I also know that if I was being told to calm down, relax, or just drive safer, it would not have helped as much as laughing it off. Laughter is a medicine that is able to cure some of the most incurable problems. Laughter is important, and laughter is one of the greatest gifts that we all get to experience.

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