The Guest House - Rumi

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

~ Rumi ~

(The Essential Rumi, versions by Coleman Barks)

This is a beautiful poem about embracing the all of ourselves. All of our lives, the laughter and the sorrow serve us to move forward into awareness.

The Master Plan

Have you ever heard, "If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans."
This is so true in my life. I make plans only to have them change in mid-stream. I used to get very frustrated and fight the change, creating lots of undue misery in my life. Now I realize that God has my back, and when my plans do not fit along with the Master Plan for me, they will change.

Usually when this occurs, I am not seeing the Divine Order, it is only with hindsight that all makes sense. Proverbs 19:21 states, "The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established." By accepting and surrendering to the idea that God has a plan and the plan is good, the obstacles in my plans do not seem to bother me so much.

When I am passionately seeking God and wanting to do the work of God, I must trust that God truly does have my back and is preparing the way for me. Jeremiah 29:10 promises, "For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope."

Realizing that there is a Master Plan, makes taking a step into the unknown much easier and less fearful.

Laugh, Create Your Own Paradise

I love to laugh, don't you? I love a good knee slapping joke or a funny story that is so funny it makes my sides hurt. I find I have more energy and experience less stress when I laugh. Plato once remarked that "Even the gods love jokes."

In the Koran, it states that "He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh." When I am around people who laugh and/or make me laugh, I want to stay and be with them. This is a bit like paradise. Small children have contagious laughs, and can 'bust a gut' as we say in West Texas at the smallest of things; a burp, a fart, a slip of the tongue. They have a knack of laughing at themselves until we teach them those powerful words-"That's not FUNNY!"

I think we do ourselves and our children a disservice when we squelch their laughter. Maybe we ought to laugh with them and lighten up a bit. The health benefits are staggering.

When we laugh we:

• Boosts immunity
• Lower stress hormones
• Decrease pain
• Relax our muscles
• Prevent heart disease

Laughter also has a multitude of mental health benefits:

• Adds joy and zest to life
• Eases anxiety and fear
• Relieves stress
• Improves mood
• Enhances resilience

Along with physical and mental health benefits, laughter also has social benefits:

• Strengthens relationships
• Attracts others to us
• Enhances teamwork
• Helps defuse conflict
• Promotes group bonding

With all of these benefits, I encourage you to make laughter a required part of your day.

Don't wait for the government to mandate this one. Create your own Paradise and just lighten up and laugh.

Laughter is life enhancing

Laughter was the intention for the day. It began with the funny stories on URAwesome radio show. We laughed until most of us wet our pants. The hour flew by and we all left completely energized and happy. This set the tone for the rest of my day. I sought to find humor in all things and it worked. I laughed most of the day and found I felt lighter.

It reminded me of G.K. Chesterton's saying, "Angels fly because they take themselves lightly." We often see children as angels, I wonder if it is because they look like Cherubs and they find humor in what most of us consider stupid or childish whims. I know around our house, our children want to be playful and to laugh and if I am not rested or I am taking life too seriously, I squelch their joy. I am usually sad when this happens and my attitude subdues the air in the room. Sometimes becoming aware is the pits.

Jesus calls us to become like children. I have always considered that to only mean to be open. In thinking about laughter, I believe, taking ourselves lightly, is yet another way that we become like children. In a report by William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter, the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day. However, adults average approximately 17 laughs a day. What happens to us as we grow old?

Have we forgotten how to laugh? Or have too many people, like me with my children, squelched our laughter. I have noticed LOL (laugh out loud)on so many texts and emails. I have witnessed people typing LOL, including myself, but I rarely hear anyone LOL. Are we too embarrassed to really laugh out loud, have we become so uptight that we can't laugh, or are we just too old? These are great questions to ask ourselves.

Chuck Gallozzi, author of Benefits of Laughter, believes "We don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing.
I encourage everyone to start laughing. It is more contagious than a cold or the flu and it has many healing benefits. Let's practice smiling and spreading the joy. Let's join in the laughter and not squelch it. And maybe we will fly with the angels.