Laughter Is the Best Medicine

Earlier this month my 4-year-old son had school picture day. So the night before, as we sat around the kitchen table, we practiced smiling. But since this was my family, we didn’t practice smiling normally. No, we would look away, then whip our head around and “smolder.” Think a poor man’s Blue Steel.

Laughter erupted around the table, like the wave rippling through a baseball stadium. Each turn we took, our faces became more outrageous and embarrassing.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I slowed down time and appreciated this moment of true joy. This is what it is all about.

I knew that dinner would end and I’d go back to checking my work email and everyone else would do their thing. But for a few precious minutes at least, I was able to savor the moment. And it reminded me that I had everything I could ever need sitting there at that kitchen table.

That was a powerful realization, because if I have what I need, then everything else is just gravy. So I might as well enjoy it and have some fun. That has taken off some of the pressure of life, and in freeing myself from that burden I have not only had more fun, but been much more effective and productive.

But, more importantly than these words of amateur wisdom, don’t worry, my son did take a normal school picture!