The After Look With Charldia

Monday, May 20, 2013

To Laugh or Not To Laugh

Proverbs 17:22 NIV A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones Job 8:21 NIV He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Laughter is good for you, and it's great to have people laugh with you, but not so great when they laugh at you, or if the joke's on you. And on that note, let me inject here that a jokester and prankster seldom can take a joke or prank themselves. And I know this to be true because trust me, when it comes to Prank I Q, mines in the Einstein range. Of course my poor, sweet, loveable but oh so gullible, husband says that I am just a good liar. And I take offense at that, because I really hate lying... But a good joke or prank is hard to resist. And bless his sweet heart, after 38 years of marriage, he has been the recipient of most of them. And definitely of the ones that I consider my finest moments. Not long after we married, we had a bad ice storm. I had just had surgery on my left foot. I was in a surgery shoe, pins sticking out the top of my foot and on crutches. (Let me inject here, I am known as a clutz. It would not be an exaggeration to say I have had a hundred or more falls about half of which has broken a bone, Tore a ligament, needed stitches, or required surgery.) Anyway, I had to say that before I continued. We went some friends' to play cards. They decided they wanted pizza ( In days long ago before delivery. So my girlfriend and I decided to go. My husband was totally against it. He kept saying he was afraid I would fall. On the way back I told my friend, I've got to prank him. We found an old ketchup pack in the car, an ashtray full of ashes, and my never left home without "blue eyeshadow". I've always dabbled in makeup art, so I fixed up bruises and blood on my face stuffed napkin pieces under my lip and in my cheeks for swelling. My girlfriend wet herself laughing before we ever went in Of course, the minute we walked in, he jumped up hollering, "Oh baby, I knew it, I knew it" Of couse I could barely explain from swollen lips how that we had stopped off to see my sick aunt and had slipped and fell off the porch.. He so lovingly led me to sit down. As I was sitting, the napkin started slipping out from under my lip. He started freaking out, "Oh no, Oh baby You've broke your teeth out" That was the end of it, I spewed the napkin out in laughter as mygirlfriend and I rolled with laughter." THE AFTER LOOK... A month later at their house, she and I were out walking, I tripped in a hole, had a nasty spill. He said, "Don't care, you get no sympathy from me this time." One of my all time favorites was the 87/57 joke. My husband's all time favorite car is a 57 Chevy. We were coming home one night, I was gazing mindlessly out the window. It was 1986. He asked me what was on my mind and instantly it hit me. I told him I was thinking about that 87/57 30 year anniversary model car Chevrolet was about to release. He asked me what I was talking about. I processes to tell him about this new car that would have an exact replica body of the 57 with all new 87 parts. He went ballistic. He was going to get one if we had to sell the house. I wad basking in the fact.that he had swallowed it hook, line, and sinker that I forgot to tell him the truth. THE AFTER LOOK... By the time I told him, he had spread the news to others and I broke his heart when I told him it was a joke. I felt really bad for awhile, especially when he had to retract the news to others. We attended a small church just across our county line (We live in Etowah County right at the Calhoun County line. It was only about 15 minutes from him. Hubby had a backroads route he always took. One Sunday, he noticed that about 5 or 6 houses along the way had shiny new asphalt driveways. He commented that he thought it was strange. I proceeded to tell him it was part of The Ohatchee. Beautification Program. He asked me what that was about. I said that anyone that wanted to improve things around their yards the next 2 months, they could pay $50 to Ohatchee.City Council to have their driveway paid and Ohatchee would cover the rest. He commented.something about wishing our city would do the same. The second we walked in the door, he went straight to out BFF's, who lived on a dirt road with a dirt drive. That had built a beautiful 2 story home there. He began to ask RF why he wasn't participating in the program. RF asked him what he was referring to, then RF looked at me, realized what was going on, and everyone else fell apart. THE AFTER LOOK... I caused him to be teased by others and I didn't mean for that to happen. Then there were many others such as the Loch Ness monster of Neely Henry Dam. The Bright Lights and Open Curtains, etc. But harmless jokes are one thing, jokes that cause physical or emotional damage are another. As much as I like to tease my loving, good natured husband and have brought him teasing from others, I can honestly say (and I believe he would agree). It's been things where we laugh with him, not at him. Being a teacher for years, I've seen some pretty cruel embarrasing jokes played on other kids so others would make fun of them and laugh at them, not with them. And I know from my own experience, I have been the brunt of those kind of jokes and I know that's no laughing matter. Laughter can relieve stress, ease tense situations, and cheer up a dreary day. "When you laugh the world laughs with you, when you smile the sun comes shining through. Laugh with people, not at them. And that laughter is contagious and can spread quickly to those around. I've seen a while room of people giggling and cackling without a clue as to why. But Someone else's funny bone got tickled or their giggle box fell open and soon others were laughing for the sheer joy of it. HAVE YOU HAD YOUR LAUGH TODAY? Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, Luke 6:21 NIV Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

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