“Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.”
– Anonymous
I believe the ultimate elixir for depression, stress, and pressure is humor. If you can keep a sense of humor, dealing with challenges and defeats is far easier. I find thinking of people in my life who can make me smile is the first step to taking life a little less seriously.
The Joke Was on the Nurses
A lot of this stems from my mother, about whom I wrote in an earlier blog. She always had a wonderful sense of humor. When she suddenly became a quadriplegic, I remember thinking that there could be nothing humorous left in her life. Then, one day, while visiting her in the hospital, she told me to tweak her nose. I asked why. She told me to just do what she said. So, I tweaked her nose. When I did, myriad machines monitoring her vital functions sent out alarms, and within seconds, a nurse arrived. My mom thought it was hilarious how freaked out the nurses were as they ran into the room. Since she was a registered nurse herself, I guess it was OK. It shocked me. Then she said to me, “Hey, smile. That was pretty funny.” All the sadness I felt for her instantly dissipated into thin air. If she could get through her challenges with her own sense of humor, anyone could.
Counting Her Blessings
On my way to visit her in the hospital, I encountered a ward filled with soldiers returning from the Vietnam War with horrendous injuries. When I asked my mom how she could get through the pain and fears she must be enduring, she told me to look around the ward. She said, “Those soldiers are suffering much more than me.” Then she smiled, “So what do I have to complain about?”
Zero to Sixty in a Wheelchair
When she finally reached rehab, they gave her an electric wheelchair. Learning how to use it was a challenge, given her limited use of her arms and hands. One afternoon, the nurses put her in a wheelchair to teach her how to operate it. When she hit the forward lever, she flew down the hallway and crashed into the wall. They all rushed to her, fearful she had hurt herself. When asked if she was OK, she smiled, “What’s the worst that could happen? I become a cripple?” While one would not use the word “cripple” in today’s world (and thankfully so), you get the idea of how she approached life and instilled in me an equally positive and humorous way of overcoming challenges.
Who Makes Me Smile When Life Is Hard
She lived to be 88 and passed away peacefully in 2004. A quadriplegic for 34 years (maybe a Guinness world record), she never lost her sense of humor and resolve, and she had overcome whatever challenges fate gave her. To put it mildly, she inspired anyone who ever had the honor of knowing her.
So whenever I felt challenged during the process, I thought of her and her ever-present smile. Find someone like that for yourself. Someone you admire and of whom the mere mention makes you smile.
