With Grief Comes Happiness And Laughter Because It Is Much Easier To Look Crazy When You Are Laughing

A good post always starts with a good sentence.  One that will draw the reader in and make them want to read your post.  Well, this is not to say this isn’t worth reading, it is, but I don’t think my first sentence made the reader so intrigued that they had to read my post.  Then again if you are this far down into my first paragraph then maybe it did work.  I guess I will never know.  Oh well.  Good thing I don’t get paid by the amount of people that read my stuff because I would be living on quarters.  At least I could do laundry.

So I have been trying to figure out what to write about.  I could go deep and we could open my proverbial closet.  I could just write about something profound and inspirational.  Or I could go a completely different way and try something new.  I am usually just good at just rambling whats is in my head.  I like to have in there all jumbled up so I don’t know what is going to come out.  As it begins to flow out of my head most of the time it takes its own shape as I write.  Sometimes it is so helpful to organize what is in the mess on top of my shoulders, but other times it is still a jumbled mess of letters.  Well, I will give it a try anyways.

I was very recently told that I have a very young face.  I know I do as I am constantly reminded of it as I go about my day.  I can give you a couple of instances.  I was coaching a very good soccer team that traveled all over the US.  This was pre 9/11 and all the security we now have.  Anyways we were headed to some tournament and I believe the boys I was coaching at the time were around 14.  Security at that time consisted of a podium where you showed the security officer your ticket.  I had all the boys go through before me so I could make sure one did not run off at the last-minute and miss the flight.  As I got up to the podium the security officer stopped me and asked me where my parents were and I needed to go through security with them.  Of course the team was right there and they had a great time reminding me about it throughout the trip by constantly asking me where my parents are.  It was pretty funny because I can easily laugh at myself.  Even when we talk about our travels it never fails to come back up.

Another more recent instance happened as I tried to buy a textbook.  I had decided to take a class at a local university to see a new perspective on a certain area of my life.  Well as always you need a textbook for the class.  My wife and I went to the campus book store and took our kids with us.  As we approached the counter the girl checking me out was making small talk and asked me about the class and some other small talk.  As she handed me my change and my receipt she told me how nice it was that I brought my mother with me to buy my book(we are the same age).  I could not help but laugh as we walked out.  My wife did not find it nearly as funny as I did but I think secretly she likes that I am young-looking, just not that she is my mom.

I am also as young in the energy I usually bring to the things I do.  I am very passionate about them and love to be as excited as a kid trying out a new toy.  This can frustrate my wife sometimes because she cannot keep up all the time, but I don’t mind.  I like to have her with me when I do things but if I need to I can do them by myself so she can relax.  My day is usually a 12 to 14 hour work day with a few breaks here and there to pick up my kids and things like that.  At the end I am rarely tired.  That is when I can do other fun things but for some reason it is hard to find people to do stuff with you at 10 or 11 at night.  So I think up great pranks to pull on my wife and kids.

The one I am currently working on involves my daughter and myself.  My wife treated me to a movie the other day and she had us see “The Visit”.  She did this strictly for me because she does not like scary movies.  She has not watched one since the original Scream.  I was really grateful for her to do that, but boy did it give me ammunition for pranks.  If you have not seen “The Visit” I highly recommend it.  It was funny and scary at the same time.  My daughter is going to mimic one of the parts in the movie and chase my wife down a hall.  We have it all worked out.  She will probably wet herself.  Who doesn’t love a good prank.

A while back when Twilight first came out she was reading the first book (which is surprising because she does not like scary books) and it was good so she was staying up late to read.  I don’t sleep much but I was trying because I needed to get up early the next morning.  Well, she checked to see if I  was asleep, which I faked like I was, and then she got out of bed to use the bathroom.  I quickly got up and hid right inside our bedroom door.  There is a little spot that is easy to hide in.  As she came back in I snuck up behind her and grabbed her and bit her on the neck.  She flipped out.  It was so funny even she found it funny as she was laughing so hard in the end she was crying.

As I look back on all these moments I can see the joy little things in our lives can bring us.  It is not all the stuff or the amount of friends (I have few).  No, it is all about the experiences and those you share them with.  My kids get into our pranks and love to do them.  I am hoping they are joyous moments they can look back on and smile.  Everyone needs these moments because I have learned lately that having those moments is important.  As life starts getting hard and stressful you can pull one of these moments up and put a little smile on your face and your day seems just a tad bit brighter.  These are moments are future healing moments in your life.  They are something you can focus on when you believe your life is in shambles.  You can focus on these moments and understand what is really important.  You can then shift your focus to find those moments that are going on in your life everyday.  They may be small but I  guarantee they are there.  Yesterday, I got to take my daughter to take the written portion of the drivers exam and get her permit.  We got to spend a little time in the car alone with her and she asked me to come in and help her get checked-in.  This might seem like nothing, but my daughter is the most stubborn and independent person you will ever meet (aside from myself of course).  So for her to ask me to come in and help her made me feel good.  Now I am looking for my moment or moments today.  I may not see it until tomorrow but I am sure there will be at least one.  And I will add it to my growing collection of positive moments library.