LIFE
AND LAUGHTER
It will be a blessing if we make laughter a feature of our existence. Unfortunately, we don’t do
so. We believe in being sad and serious. We think that to laugh is to
misbehave. This is a grave misunderstanding. God does not want us to be gloomy
when He has placed us in a vastly beautiful world where flowers bloom, birds
sing, rivers flow, mountains welcome us with snow, cool water quenches our
thirst, delicious fruits gratify our hunger, the bright sun lights our ways and
the shining moon and stars fill our eyes with delight.
To laugh is to thank for all God’s blessings. The Indian
mystic and philosopher Osho (1931-1990) said: Existence is hilarious. If you
have eyes to see the hilarious points you will be surprised : in life there is
no place to be serious. Everybody is slipping on banana peels --- you just need an insight to see.”
The English essayist and poet Charles Lamb (1776-1834) considers
a laugh worth a hundred groans. Another English essayist Thomas Carlyle
(1795-1881) thinks :“The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treason,
stratagems, and spoils ; but his whole life is already a treason and a
stratagem. According to the English novelist
Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) :”A good laugh is sunshine in a house.“ And
John Dryden, the English poet and literary critic (1631-1700) thought : “It is
a good thing to laugh, at any rate; and if a straw can tickle a man, it is an
instrument of happiness. Beasts can weep when they suffer, but they cannot
laugh.”
People who don’t laugh suffer from perpetual melancholy which
can be healed only by adopting the habit of frequent laughter.
Finally, this anonymous quote : “A good laugh makes us better
friends with ourselves and everybody around us.”
*******
G.R.Kanwal
7th October 2024
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