Let Go

When I was in college, some professors lectured with statistics, equations and theories in a monotonous tone of voice, others cracked jokes and made funny analogies to drive the point home. I preferred the second type because they managed to keep me engaged.

Laughter is a wonderful gift. It releases chemicals in your brain that can enlighten your day and reduce your stress. Laughter and humor are vital to good health. It is healthy for a marriage, both emotionally and physically.

If your relationship is contentious with too many conflicts, your sense of humor is the best way to release some steam. Imagine if both of you could actually laugh at how ridiculous your fights are, the tension and bitterness will quickly dissolve. A marriage without laughter is rather boring because it is seriously lack of fun. So learn to laugh together. You sense of humor may save your marriage from doom.

We are not all born funny. But fortunately it’s a skill that can be learned. Sheri and Bob Stritof suggest that to increase laughter and humor in your marriage, you need to be aware of the humorous moments in each day; make it a habit for everyone in your family to share at dinner something funny that happened to them; take delight in watching comedies together and reflect on funny times in your past together.

Between Joe and me, he is the goofy one and I am more serious. When we first started dancing, I cared more about getting our steps right and in sync. I didn’t approve his creative moves that always threw me off. For a while, dancing with him wasn’t so much fun. Now that we’ve done it for a year and a half, I’ve come to the conclusion that we are actually pretty good together, but we will never be as great as the folks on Dancing with the Stars, not even close. But who cares? So now when he makes those crazy moves, I just follow and we end up laughing our head off.

Whenever I come home from work stressed and frustrated, Joe always says to me, “Do you want me to beat somebody up? Just say so, I’ll go and teach them a lesson.” It usually made me laugh.

A successful marriage requires compassion; and compassion requires communication. A relaxed sense of humor is a major element of communication skills. Therefore make an effort to develop a sense of humor in yourself and in your children. Being able to laugh under most circumstances will help lighten the burdens they’ll have to carry and enable them to relate to others more easily and freely.

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