Life Lesson #23 ~ FIND YOUR FUNNY BONE!

If I have learned one thing in my 41 years it’s this, life is full of uncertainty. From one day to the next life can and will take different turns. Life can bring good news one day and sorrow the next. Our joy is not linked to uncertainty or in the fear and worry of a sudden detour life maps into our route. Joy is a certainty despite the fears surrounding us. I sometimes think we tend to confuse happiness with joy. We are not guaranteed happiness. Why, well happiness is a feeling, joy on the other hand is something deeper, it’s something we chose in our circumstances, good or bad.

We can run around like Chicken Little yelling the sky is falling, be a woe is me kind of person, blaming everyone else for our predicament and allow a curve ball to destroy us or we can take a deep breath, and let the pieces fall where they will. Everything sorts itself out eventually. The reality is we do have the ability to walk with confidence even when life has gone haywire. It all comes down to how we deal with the fall out. Is life over; has it come so completely undone where there is nothing worth celebrating or looking forward to? Is all hope lost? I think not! In fact I know not. Life is a tapestry of bright and dark colors, the story of our lives, how we bend with each new thread. We can complain, find fault, play a victim of life’s unplanned events OR we can be a resounding light. Life lesson number #23: Find your funny bone! In every element life forges around and through us, there’s ALWAYS a choice. We can either find a sense of humor or we can live fearfully surrounded by the what if’s. 

In everything life has thrown my way, I have always made a choice to rise above self-pity, looking towards my funny bone even if I don’t feel like laughing. I’ve found laughter is the best medicine, and many times the only way to embrace joy even if happiness has fled the building. I can’t count the times I’ve laughed at myself. Just this week after my biopsy, I was suddenly staring at my body’s unexpected response to the procedure. It hasn’t been pretty at all. It’s been fairly painful to be honest but I decided the best way to deal with my situation was to find the humor in it. I was happy to suggest a vampire or a zombie took a bite out of me. Hands down my cousin Julie’s suggestion was the best explanation, I rescued a basket full of kittens from a shark and "look how close it was!"

Life is full of plot changes, we can go with them or we can fight each and every one. Personally, I’d rather not exhaust myself becoming hysterical, terror stricken, going to pieces or pushing the panic button before the apocalypse has actually been announced or confirmed. Being a survivor is not about running scared every time a zombie approaches instead it’s how you find your calm in the middle of the fight. We can live in the courage of pure joy or cower in the possible clutch of the unknown. Fear and uncertainty definitely define our character, with either misgivings or apprehension. My advice, stop running around  like a chicken without a head and a preconception along with a preoccupation of what MAY happen and start focusing on resilience, flexibility, the power of endurance and how you will overcome whatever the outcome!

I have no clue what is ahead of me. Everything may come back just fine, with no worries and a clean bill of health. In fact this is where my mind is set, but if life decides on a plot change I won’t be dismayed. Life will carry on as it always has. I refuse to spend my days wallowing, instead, I will count my days by how well I live them! Illness is not the end of us but the beginning to be honest. So if you will excuse me, I need to get back to those kittens before that silly shark decides to come back for another bite of my neck!

~ Christina