A quick post, because I'm ditching class and feel like making one: Been listening to a lot of Cloud Cult lately. After the rainy-day miasma that was the election season, I was in serious need of a pick-me-up, and few bands can do it with the aplomb of Cloud Cult. But this morning I've been enjoying their latest (and supposedly last - say it ain't so, guys) release, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes), and I've been moved by one of the songs on the record. (Expect a review of it soon on our music website.) It's called 'Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide', and it's how I feel today.

I've had enough of hiding underneath my covers
I'm done with all that poop that brings me down
down
down
Don't bring me down
down
down

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired
I'll laugh my whole way through the hurricanes and fire
That's why you don't wanna bring me down
That's why you don't wanna bring me down

That's how I feel this fine day. I'm done being worried about things, I'm done hiding underneath my covers, and I'm going to laugh my way through life. I'm reminded of the words of Joseph B. Wirthlin only a few weeks ago:

Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim?

There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh.

I remember loading up our children in a station wagon and driving to Los Angeles. There were at least nine of us in the car, and we would invariably get lost. Instead of getting angry, we laughed. Every time we made a wrong turn, we laughed harder.

Getting lost was not an unusual occurrence for us. Once while heading south to Cedar City, Utah, we took a wrong turn and didn’t realize it until two hours later when we saw the “Welcome to Nevada” signs. We didn’t get angry. We laughed, and as a result, anger and resentment rarely resulted. Our laughter created cherished memories for us.

I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children; then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn’t move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car and, red faced, ran back into the house. The man that she thought was her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife.

We all had a good laugh over that. In fact, we couldn’t stop laughing. Later, when our daughter’s real blind date showed up, I couldn’t come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it today.

The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.

So don't forget to laugh at all the difficulties, twisted turns, and hardships that life throws at you. There's no better way to deal with them - so get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and laugh at the hurricanes and fires that life heaps on you.