Love Deeply And Find A Way To Laugh Out Loud

Be forewarned, the above clip video will make you giggle and even snort uncontrollably in parts.  Do put liquids down before viewing.  Just wait until you get to the part with the goat....bwahahahahaha.

Tomorrow, I will turn 45. Seems like just yesterday I was in high school, and yet, here I am, getting older and older.

But am I wiser?

Would like to think so, and that is mostly because I have learned through the years that the answer is very simple to just about every problem that gets thrown in my path, recent breast cancer slog included.

The answer is this:  love deeply and find a way to laugh out loud.


When I was younger, everything seemed personal and deeply felt.  Criticism of something I'd done made me feel like the worst person on the planet.  Anything that went wrong was always my fault.  People pleasing took up every nook and cranny in my thought process, leaving little space for aberrant thoughts like "what would I have liked instead?" or "what do I want rather than what do you want from me?"

It's been a lifetime of work, and heaven knows I'm not even close to conquering that just yet, but at least I don't feel like a raving heretic for even thinking about my needs at this point in my life.  You have no idea what an accomplishment that is for me, but there you have it.

The answer to most of it has been to love deeply -- and have that person be someone who loves me right back, just as deeply and unconditionally.  And, yes, I am well aware of how incredibly lucky I am to have that, every single day.  It was clearly fate that brought us together, but we work at it, every day, week in and week out, to keep ourselves on the same page and moving forward together.  We also try to set a good example for The Peanut, so that she sees not just what she might have, but what she deserves and should fight for when she gets older and begins her own family.

Sometimes, I wonder if people are really thinking about the day to day examples they are setting for their own children when they snipe and lash out at one another, not giving nearly enough thought for what might be if they chose to instead hold out a hand or help to boost someone up instead.

Happiness is a big part of that equation, I think, for if you are not happy with yourself, how can you ever truly be happy with anyone or anything else?

Who doesn't struggle with this, on any given day?  I know I do, and I'm incredibly happy with my family and a lot of my life (with the exception of my thighs...they are exempted entirely from my happiness quotient at the moment because they refuse to get smaller, and it is beginning to irritate me to no end...SIGH).  My solution on a down day has been to find some way -- any way, really -- to laugh out loud.

As I was slogging through chemo this summer, it made a world of difference for me to just find something funny and laugh.

My most recent find in that regard has been the delightfully whimsical humor of Miranda Hart.  I adore her, falling in love with her character, Chummy, on Call the Midwife: Season One and moving on to find her prior comedy series on BBC which makes me laugh out loud.

Be forewarned, the above clip video will make you giggle and even snort uncontrollably in parts.  Do put liquids down before viewing.

So, my present to all of you before my birthday tomorrow is this:  find a way to love deeply and laugh out loud in your own lives.  You'll be much, much happier for it.

And by raising yourself up, making yourself happier, won't you be doing the same for all the folks that you care about, too?  That's a wonderful way to move your day forward.