Laugh, Cry, Pray!

Recently I was visiting my Mother at Cumbernauld Village. As I was leaving I ran into George Lowe. His mother had recently moved into the facility. We were lamenting the direction of our mothers’ health. As our conversation ended George remarked that when dealing with these kinds of issues he tried to laugh, cry, and pray. The more I thought about it the advice was not only good for where we were with our mothers, but just about everything that happens in life.

Doctors have long held that laughter is good for us. Readers Digest has a section called “Laughter is the Best Medicine” and wise King Solomon wrote “a cheerful heart is good medicine” in Proverbs 17:22. Laughing is often contagious. People seeing others laugh get involved despite often not knowing the topic at hand. At the end of a good laugh everyone feels better.

My prior district manager once told me that while we are involved in many serious activities it is important not to take ourselves too seriously. Sometimes the most laughable situations are those we get into because we “do dumb.” We can either let these times get us down or have a good laugh and move on. I’ve had several laughs at myself over the years.

The ability to cry is also very important. For much of my life the conventional wisdom has been that real men don’t cry. When our girls were young we would watch a television show with a sad ending. The girls and their mother would have tears running down their faces. To me it was just a story. My wife often said she hated to see what would make me cry. That time came in August, 1989 when my dad passed from this life.

Crying is also a good release of the emotions and seems to clear our sensory system. We cry not only for loss or bereavement but also for joy or in appreciation. Often when we are surprised in a positive way many respond with tears. We get involved with someone crying and tears of compassion flow.

I remember several years go seeing a sign “Prayer Changes Things.” My experience over the years validates that message. Prayer is as much an attitude as a specific event. It is the recognition that a power larger than us controls all the events of life. We can pray selfishly but are more effective when our petitions are in behalf of others with needs.

What is the power of prayer? James, the writer of the New Testament book wrote “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” In other words the power of prayer is enormous. I know that my Grandmother’s prayers were often and powerful on my behalf. Thanks George I’m glad we had our brief conversation. When the stresses or joys of life come, as they certainly will, I plan to laugh, cry, and pray!

Transitions!

It seems that life is full of transitions. About the time we get comfortable with some aspect of our life it changes. We don’t go from stability period to stability period; but when things change, we have to grow to the next time that is stable for us. Making the transitional time a growth time is important. Transitions happen in several ways. Let’s look at a couple of ways transitions are necessary.

Sometimes we see something lacking in an aspect of our life and we chose to change. In front of us is a picture of where we want to go that will take some intermediate steps. We might see that we lack the skills for a part of our job. The transition may be filled with training, planning and continuing to focus on where we want to go. We may go through several transitional stages before the desired result is attained.

At other times a change is thrust upon us. We lose a job or perhaps someone that has been an important part of our life. Or the change may be a new computer system at our office. We must adjust and move on with our next phase of life whether it is our preference to do so or not. The transition is not always easy but it is necessary. Often we need to reach out to others to aid us in this process. Someone may have faced a similar change that would enable them to offer valuable assistance.

Whether we choose the change or it chooses us, the transition period can be a time of opportunity or frustration. Difficulties are bound to happen during this critical period. How we face transitions often determine ultimate success and duration of the transition period. Successful transitions aid in getting us comfortably into another time period of stability.

A wise man once told me “this too will pass.” Both periods of stability and times of transition follow his rule. They all pass. Another wise person has said that long term success in life requires us to have the ability to “roll with the punches.” Having this flexibility allows us to transition into the next successful aspect of our life. The only real constant in life is change and the transitions that come with those changes.