Eleven Hints for Life – 6 of 11

March 15, 2014

6. Don’t go for looks, they can deceive. Don’t go for wealth, even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. – Unknown

There are just tons of quotes and sayings with similar messages and advice. Almost all focus upon getting beyond the superficial and finding true happiness is something deeper than looks and possessions or wealth.

Someday that good looking wealthy person will find that it’s not enough to be given yet another bauble to cover over a transgression or disappointment. Another new car or another trip to the islands won’t heal the wounds this time. It’s not because they aren’t nice; it’s just that those things don’t make them smile or laugh.

In my post of March 12, about best friends I reused the oft used line from poems, novels, movies and weddings, “you make me complete.” Perhaps some of what that line means is “you make me happy”, or put another way, “you make me smile.” The perfect person in your life will also be the one that makes you laugh.

LOLA smile is like a rainbow turned upside down and it does brighten up the day. Laughter is what a smile sounds like when it gets too big for you to hold on your face and bursts out into the world. A smile can cut through the darkness of gloom and laughter can pierce through even the silent depths of despair. A person who is able to smile and laugh is well armored against anything that life can throw at them.

One curious side benefit of having a smile on your face is that it makes you mysterious and interesting. It drives other people nuts, because they want to know why you are smiling; so, you’ll get to meet more people because they’ll want to talk to you to find out why you are always smiling. Maybe you can put a smile of their faces, too.

Oft times in life you need a good laugh more than you need another possession and life is so much easier to get through with a smile on your face. Remember that there are no ugly smiles and even the very poor can find things to laugh about. So search for that soul mate that can make you smile and laugh and you’ll live life in a better place together forever.

Poet W. H. Auden put it well when he said – “Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator; but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.”

And as for a smile; I love this quote by Mother Teresa – “Let us always meet each other with smiles, for a smile is the beginning of love.”

Put on your happy face and smile!

happy face

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Posted by Norm Werner

Don’t shake it off, laugh it off…

March 1, 2014

A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused. –Shirley MacLaine

I find that little quote to be particularly true. My wife and I often say about something bad or unexpected that just happened, “Someday we’ll look back on this an laugh.” We laugh a lot.

One must, of course, be serious most of the time; however, one mustn’t take oneself too seriously. I tend to react to unexpected things as they happen with some form of verbal expression, not always something that I would say out loud in polite company. I believe that is called an explanative, which is often deleted in stories that recount the incident. I find that almost immediately after such an outburst, I am amused by my reaction and have a quick chuckle at my own expense.

To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity. – William Arthur Ward

So, the next time that you do something really stupid or that something unexpected happens to you; see if blurting out “You knucklehead” or perhaps other words to that affect don’t relieve the tension of the moment and then allow you to laugh at yourself and the situation. It’s a way to acknowledge the situation and perhaps your poor decision making in laughingthat situation, but without beating yourself up too badly.

Being able to laugh at yourself is a form self-depreciation, but one that is usually harmless and isn’t a precursor to depression. In fact it is a good alternative to slipping into depression. Being amused by your situation or reaction to it is so much more health that being depressed by the same things. Others will also be more forgiving of the dumb things that you might do if you acknowledge them, own up to them and then have a good laugh about them. I’ll close this on this little quote that makes me feel better about the whole thing.

Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat and worry with laughter at your predicaments, thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously. – Og Mandino

Remember to KCCO

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Posted by Norm Werner