When we are impacted by grief, we often lose the ability to laugh- some thoughts of how we can reignite our ability to laugh

A time to weep,
And a time to laugh; Ecclesiastes 3:4

We live in a tightly wound up society that has forgotten how to live life with joy filled with the ability to laugh freely. That was one of the first things I lost when our family encountered the tragic loss of 2007. Grief is like a thief that comes in the middle of the night to rob you of your sleep while settling bad thoughts into your mind.  It plants those insidious ideas like "you should have been there for your loved one", or "you failed to keep your loved one alive".  Every time those thoughts bombard you, the brain is being rewired.  

I was intrigued with this short video because it illustrates the importance of laughter in our lives.  Laughter, I believe, is as important to the substance of life as food, water, and oxygen. It is what brings enjoyment to living.

So why are we not laughing more?   Look around you and tell me what you are seeing and hearing on the news?  The odds are many will respond to that question with sad and very distressing news!  The late ABC News correspondent, Peter Jennings, started smoking again while reporting the post world trade center collapse just to cope with the indescribable tragedy- he died not long after from cancer.

We are coping with tragedy with the wrong coping mechanisms of life. We are drinking to bury the pain, smoking pot to sedate the tragedy, or smoking cigarettes to cope with some very bad things in our lives.  We're doing everything but processing our pain, one emotion at a time and learning to laugh again.

My challenge is this- find something in your life that will get you to laugh!  Some thoughts are watching some very funny television shows like 'Fawlty Towers', or listen to a non-offensive stand-up comedian. If you can learn to laugh at least 20 minutes a day, it will do wonders for your outlook on life and your ability to enjoy life to the fullest.

To those who haven't heard of Fawlty Towers, I'm including an episode below to enjoy and to learn to laugh!

Finally, grief doesn't have to be the defining moment of your life. Sure it stinks when tragedy happens to us. I get that. I've learned in my own journey that grief is universal regardless of the background of the bereaved.  I've personally learned in my journey that Jesus Christ, the one who died and rose in one of the greatest redemptive stories of time wants to personally walk with you on whatever journey you're on. 

So ask Him to teach you to laugh again!