the cure.

today, in the rush of whisking sunny boo out the door in that grotesquely awkward baby carrier to her already strapped-in-the-carseat waiting brother i slammed the locked door onto my long maxi skirt. i was in such a rush that i actually tried to "power" it free. you know, like run/pull it loose. yeah, that didn't work. and it is a new skirt, it still smells like TJMAXX so, come on...really?! my coffee, however did NOT spill a darn drop throughout the whole ordeal, which is a good thing because Lord knows, i can't affort to lose a drop of that these days.

but i laughed.

and as i plopped myself down in the car and shoved it into reverse i felt happy and content to be late, a little bit sweaty, but on my way and under another beautiful sunrise.

and then after a hard morning at work, one where hope seems dim and the world looks ugly, i decided to let myself just sit down with my students and not lecture or teach or nag....just laugh. were things perfect? no. were they still behind on their work? yes. but we came together just as we were, to smile and be silly and for a moment in time, simply exhale all of life's pressures and disappointments. and it felt good. productive, even.

a few hours later i found myself getting my blood drawn for our school sponsored Red Cross blood drive, where i asked the lady if i could sleep while the blood was getting pumped out of my veins. she said i couldn't because how would they know if i was dead....that was a bummer, but really, to lay down alone--albeit with a needle in my vein--felt kind of nice. she wouldn't stop talking my ear off so i took that as a sign that she really wasn't a fan of me falling asleep.

and as i tried to keep my eyes open, i laughed.

and thinking about it all, about life, about counseling, about teaching and about motherhood--

laughter gives life.

i have found that when i can laugh in spite of the bags beneath my eyes and my milk-stained shirts and sweaters and my larger-than-life piles of laundry and the five HUNDRED cars and trucks all over my floors and my lesson plans gone off-topic and overlapped meetings and half-finished sent emails...

my perspective shifts.

and the simple act of me responding with laughter, to something that i very well could be responding to with tears, or anger, gives me joy...

and a joyful heart is the best medicine of all (Proverbs 17:22)