My ultimate goal in life is to laugh. More deeply, with increasing frequency, from a genuine place.

This morning that was hard to keep sight of, while shaving my legs I got goose-bumps and let me just tell you how painful the aftermath can be if you don’t stop and wait for them to go away before continuing with the task. It’s even more difficult to keep sight of when Americans are being beheaded in foreign countries and we’re in danger of a whining, spineless republican residing in the White House for four more years.

When I have a bad day or something strikes me wrong, I do my best to find ways to laugh at it. It’s something my mother taught me, I guess. She was a double amputee and from time to time I’d have a new friend over and she’d sit in the living room, in her favorite corner chair in the sunshine spot with her legs crossed, one artificial limb on top of the other. She’d bounce her leg and let it get “out of control” until it eventually slid off, much to the horror of the newbie in the house. Ah yeah, good times. And you wonder why I’m sick in the head?

The point is: between the headache and the decapitated hair follicles, my day isn’t starting off right. When this happens, I have 4 sources of lightheartedness that never fail to amuse me and turn my disposition right around.

~This picture, hanging on my office wall
~The mpg file of the Cowbell / Blue Oyster Cult skit from SNL downloadable here
~ The Manah Manah song, preferably via the one of the Muppet Show DVD’s I have at home, but I will frequently settle for the MP3.
~ My most tangible smile source: finger puppets.

Just a little more humor. Cat Stevens (one of my all time favorites, thank you) was put on a watch list by the government (he changed his name to Yusuf Islam) and prevented from entering the United States. This morning on The Today Show, Katie Couric and John Stewart are yukking it up.

John: Well they put him on the watch list after they figured out he was being followed — by a Moon Shadow
Katie: Our producer was using that one all day yesterday
John: Well, I just woke up
Katie: Morning Has Broken, as it were

They went on and on, and I hopped in the shower…you know the rest. Bad puns, I will NEVER get enough! Sadly, my laughter alone doesn’t change the way the world is run, but it’s a start. Pay it forward.