Remember to Laugh

“You may have noticed that sometimes – no, more often than not – the day, the week, our life, turns out other than you had expected, and not always for the better. No matter how much we try to do the right thing, become a better or more spiritual person, get all our ducks in a row at work, at home, or with our friends, something always seems to show up to remind us that this is not a perfect world and that it never will be. Something always shows us that, no matter how smart we are or how many successes we  have under our belt, we do not have ultimate control for the way our life works out, not to mention  for the way the world works out.”

     You’ve no doubt heard the saying “if you want to make God laugh, tell her/him your plans.” Whether or not you believe there is a person-like deity who laughs or cries at our expectation that life will unfold according to our plans, it is certain that that expectation will rarely come to pass. Poet Roger Housden rightly opines that our experience notwithstanding, we often, consciously or otherwise, believe that our efforts to do the right thing and our attempts to become an upright person will somehow influence the outcomes of life in our favor.

     As we grow beyond magical thinking, and as our beliefs become more realistic, we may find ourselves at one of life’s many forks in the road. On the one hand we might be tempted to cynically give up on making plans, on getting our ducks in a row, and on trying to become “a better or more spiritual person.” Why bother with any of that if doing so doesn’t make a difference? The other path invites us to continue to believe in life’s goodness, and to move in the direction of personal growth despite knowing that life will probably have its way with us.

     Literary legend G.K. Chesterton once said that angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. We may not be very angelic, but if we learn not to take ourselves or our plans too seriously, and if we remember to laugh when we are reminded that we have no control over how life works out, we might just find that we’re able to be lighthearted even when things don’t go our way.