Laugh Your Ashes Off

Sometimes, life just gets to be too serious. This week, I want to encourage you to laugh your ashes off.

Humor is great therapy for the lingering depression that often accompanies childhood sexual abuse or trauma. Laughter is good medicine, and Lord knows we all need mega doses of it.

Here are a few short anecdotes to keep you laughing today:

A little girl and her mother came to the doctor's office. Following the little girl was a little dog.

"Does your dog bite?" asked the doctor.

The girl shook her head.

As the doctor bent down to pet the dog, the dog sank his teeth deep into the doctor's hand. The doctor yelled, "I thought you said your dog doesn't bite!"

The little girl said, "This one ain't mine."

Here's another story:

Two competitor manufacturers were attending an industry association outing at a mountain resort. They were roommates in the same small cabin when they heard scratching outside the door. One went to look, came back and started to put on his running shoes.

"What's the trouble?" asked his roommate.

"There's a giant bear outside," the man said. "And he's so hungry, he's gonna smash his way right into this room.

"Why put on sneakers?" asked the roommate. "You can't outrun a bear."

"I know," said the man, "but all I need to do is outrun you."

And finally:

When we talk to God, people say we're praying. But when God talks to us, they say we're schizophrenic.

Are you chuckling yet? If not, take time today and every day to find something to laugh about. Get online and look up jokes. Watch a laugh-out-loud comedy on TV. Stand in front of the mirror and make stupid faces. Or just take turns yelling out funny words with a friend....words like enema, Winnebago, and buck teeth. Eventually, you'll find yourself laughing again, and you'll wonder how you ever got through a day without it.

And remember, we're only young once. But with humor, we can be immature forever.