Published: May 27, 2008 11:12 pm         

Sense of humor keeps things in balance

Do you have a sense of humor? Think about it.

My wise father always said, “If you have any sense, have it with humor.” Having a sense of humor can go such a long, long way toward making friends and getting through some pretty tough times. Daddy should know, he had many, many friends and had come through some very rocky times with the Great Depression and lean years.

Being comical seems to make the most difficult task bearable. When tension gets tight, a simple witty saying can make the toughest job seem easy and enjoyable. No matter what kind of job we have to do, it can be made tolerable if we can find something funny about it. I won’t say I enjoy cleaning the garage, but I can laugh at myself at some of the junk I keep I think I cannot live without.

There is a study proving laughter is great medicine. I believe it. These studies prove what Daddy has said all along — a sense of humor is healing. He had a good teacher. Grandma had a wonderful disposition and sense of humor. When she was about 92 she broke her hip. The doctors put a pin in her hip but told her she probably never would walk again. She told us her doctors were good, but they were all so young. Well, duh! How many doctors do you know who still are doing surgery when they are Grandma’s age? Anyway, she showed them she could and would walk, and they let her go home. While Grandma was in the hospital they removed a dark spot off her face for biopsy. We asked her how her face felt and she replied, “Isn’t it awful when you’re so ugly your face hurts?” Who could not laugh as her wit and humor? She was a delight to be around because she was so much fun. We left the hospital room in tears from laughing so hard. We all felt better when we visited with her.

I think the reason it is so much fun to be around young people is because they are happy. They exude happiness. They see the fun side of life. Little girls giggle at everything. Is anything more delightful to hear? They don’t take things too seriously and keep things in perspective. We older people could learn from their attitude and temperament. We could incorporate more of this exuberance in our own lives. If we laugh at ourselves, no one can laugh at us, but they can laugh with us.

The first time I met my friend, Merry Mary, was in exercise class. It was April Fools Day, and she came into class in the most awful outfit with toilet paper trailing behind her tucked into her slacks, oblivious to the people around her. She strutted into class like Miss Aster. We laughed our heads off. Right then I knew I was going to love her. No matter when she calls it always is a joy and pleasure, because from the moment she says “hi,” we laugh about everything. Nearly everything we talk about is funny, or we see something laughable in it. She is like a ray of sunshine in my life.

One reason we all go to the exercise class at Senior Life Network is because we laugh and have such a good time. We could do the same exercises at home now, since the classes are shown on PEGASYS, but it just is not the same. Laughter makes the time go so much faster and seeing everyone puts joy into an otherwise dreary activity. We get a good workout of our muscles and our lungs, too.

Having a sense of humor just seems to keep things in balance. We need to be serious sometimes, of course, but not all the time. I guess that is why it is called sense of humor. We need to have our senses about us and keep things in proportion. We don’t have to be giddy, but we don’t have to be glum all the time either. We can and should keep things stable with a little laughter. Like a spoonful of sugar making medicine go down — a little laughter makes everything go better.

Jim and I enjoy the symphony, especially the last one at our beautiful ballpark. In addition to the delightful music, we all had a good time laughing. We also attend the Gaslight Theatre. We go to be entertained and uplifted. With so much beauty and joy in the world, why would anyone spend time sitting through something they don’t enjoy or learn from? We go for laughter, joy and a good lesson for life. If the plays don’t give us something, we enjoy a coffee with our friends and visit. Life is too short to not be filled with laughter and a sense of humor.

Think about the people you enjoy being around. Aren’t they happy most of the time? That does not mean they don’t have problems. They just know how to keep them in perspective and make the most of their troubles. They have made their lives rich by keeping their composure and sense of humor. We all have problems that confront us from time to time and bad things that happen to us. We cannot prevent them, but we can control our reaction to our problems. How we act and react is up to us. We can be happy in spite of bad things in our lives.

This cake will put a smile on anyone’s face. I first shared it in the Senior Life Network’s monthly newsletter. Many have told me they enjoyed it and requested I run it again. It is so easy and is so moist.



Cherry Chocolate Cake



1 package chocolate cake mix

1 can (21 ounce) cherry pie filling

1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

1 eggs

5 tablespoons cooking oil

Mix all together and bake in 13x9 pan 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. When cool, ice with this easy frosting.



Frosting for Cherry

Chocolate Cake



11⁄4 cups sugar

5 tablespoons butter

1⁄2 cup milk

6 ounces chocolate chips

Bring sugar, butter and milk to good boil. Boil one minute, stirring constantly. Add chips and stir until they are completely melted. Pour over cooled cake.

A sense of humor is like a needle and thread. It will patch up many things. Think about it.



Send your comments to: Peggy Goodrich, Food For Thought, P.O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702.