Humor: one of the tools in dealing with adversity

I spent the summer sitting on our deck watching the grass grow.  Now that it’s fall I sit in my easy chair and look out my window at the giant trees in my neighbors’ yards turning a brilliant gold, their leaves released by the wind  drifting and spinning finding their way to the ground.  There is a song from The Connecticut Yankee – “I’m busy doing nothing, isn’t it just a crime?  I’d like to be unhappy but I never do have the time!” 

In recent years the wave of technology has increased in volume and threatens to envelop us.   Stress has become monumental, taking over our lives.  There is a safety valve.  Humor can blow a hole in  the complexities that confront us.  When my husband and I owned the White Front Café  I hung a sign over the window where the waitresses picked up the food they  served to  their customers.   It said,  “Life is too important to be taken seriously!”

I used to rely on Jon Stewart to keep my sanity.  Now I turn to Stephen Colbert.  One day I discovered Ellen DeGeneres.  On her show guests play silly games.  There is a merry romp and lots of laughter.  Recently a picture appeared on my screen of an Amish man and his wife. The host of the show observed that “when it comes to politics and campaigning the Amish might be easy to persuade since they don’t have television or indoor bathrooms!”  Groucho Marx once commented that the hotel where he was staying didn’t allow Jews to use the swimming pool.  He noted that his wife was Gentile.  He asked, “Does that mean our kids can go half-way into the water?”  At 85 I may be losing my mind, my teeth, my hearing, my eyesight, but hopefully not my sense of humor. 

While a sense of humor is important when dealing with stress there are other factors that can be incorporated in the effort.  My latest purchase is a book by Steve Harris, who wrote about Lanesboro. In the epilogue he echoed my thoughts.  “I came down the hill (reference to County Road 8)  and it felt like I was driving into Brigadoon – a place that’s idyllic, unaffected by time, remote from reality.” Since the bike trail opened along the Root River in 1986, visitors have discovered the  peace and beauty of this area where they can escape the stress of their lives.  In this valley surrounded by limestone bluffs, fields and woods, walking or riding by the river can restore our souls.

Other ways of dealing with stress?  Eat great bowls of ice-cream, take naps and play Scrabble.  No matter how much work  you feel compelled to do take time to have fun and be happy!