“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try and cheer somebody else up.”
Mark Twain
We can get so inward-focused, can’t we? If we’re not feeling right, if we get caught up in the world’s drama, we can get find ourselves in a downward spiral of doom and gloom. How do we get out of a deep funk? Cheer someone else up!
In today’s quote, Henry Miller claims everyone has a destiny. If it is true, that can be a scary proposition. If life isn’t going the way we hoped, if we are going through a tough time right now, we tend to believe that is our lot in life and to just accept it.
But should we? If our vision and values are misaligned with our current situation, should we just accept that’s the way things are?
Erma Bombeck was born 95 years ago today in 1927. She was a writer that had a great wit and style. One of her quotes goes right to why it is important to have a sense of humor.
“When humor goes, there goes civilization.”
Erma Bombeck Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/erma_bombeck_131317, accessed February 21, 2022.
Erma Bombeck
A few years ago, the editor at a blog I write and draw cartoons for interviewed me about why I contribute. One quote from that article sums it up:
“The one thing I love about humor, if you’re dealing with a serious topic, humor can ease the blow.”
Kevin Spear
Yes, I just quoted myself. No, I don’t think I’m that important. On the contrary, the nice thing about quoting yourself is that it is easy to verify the source!
Humor is important because it can break the tension in a situation. It can bring healing when we are able to see there is something in a tragedy that we can laugh about. When we feel stuck by a malady, or by circumstances out of our control, humor has great power to ease the blow and be a healing balm.
I may not know what your situation is or what you have experienced. In fact, I may not have had as challenging of a situation as you have had. But one thing we can all agree on is that we have all experienced tragedy, heartache, and situations that have broken other people.
How do some go one while others break under the pressure? I have observed that those with strong faith and a strong sense of humor can make it while others cannot.
Humor is not some frivolous act. It can get us through a lot. As Erma said, humor is important because civilization needs it to survive. We need it. I am going for the trifecta and adding a third quote for today.
We have scores of entertaining thoughts each day. But do we consider which one we should and should not entertain?
We all have random thoughts. Some of them are good and they motivate us to do better. Others can knock the wind out of our sails and make us wonder what is the point? This quote made me consider the implications of our thoughts today.
“What do you hang on the walls of your mind?”
Eve Arnold
Eve Arnold Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/eve_arnold_489359, accessed January 26, 2022.
What thoughts do we keep and allow to affect our day? Most of us don’t consider that not all of our thoughts are useful. One minute, we could be telling ourselves that today will be a great day. The next, a random news story or negative coworker can steer us into dark territory.
Not all our thoughts are good ones. Our self-talk can build us up or tear us down. We have to watch those words and thoughts! I had a few tips in a previous blog. In it, I mentioned a Bible verse that has helped me so many times. Psalm 19:14 reminds me that our words and thoughts matter greatly.
What entertaining thoughts do we let hang on the walls of our minds? The quote reminds me of a refrigerator door. On it, we hang artwork our children have created, photos of loved ones, and various notes.
It is a place where we have mementos we like to be reminded about. The sundry scraps of paper give us a smile and remind us of good old days and loved ones that have grown.
Our mind is like a refrigerator door. What entertaining thoughts are we hanging there as a reminder? May it be something that inspires us to lift our heads a little higher, causes us to smile, and put a little extra effort into today.
“If you burn your neighbor’s house down, it doesn’t make your house look any better.”
Lou Holtz Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lou_holtz_153611, accessed January 7, 2022.
Lou Holtz
Whether you call it backstabbing, mud-slinging, disparagement, gossip, or some other term, it doesn’t do us any good to burn down another person’s house. Negative comments don’t do us any good.
We can tear our friends and neighbor’s down if we like, but we still end up in the middle of a mess. We look weaker for it. We know if someone is negative about another person, they are most likely negative about us as well. So we are cautious about that person. What house will they burn down next?
Politicians have been caught in this trap for decades. When they go against each other, it’s the last person standing that may win, but they don’t look any stronger. The negative ads and comments only make the victor look weak.
It is far better to love our neighbor than to burn down their house. Let’s keep our neighborhood pristine and keep the conversation positive.