Lighten Up

Early in the fall of 1987, a group of college friends and I went up Provo Canyon to have a picnic at a park by the Provo River. We had a great time eating, talking, and skipping stones on the river. Toward the end of our time there, our friend Shannon's contact lens popped out and landed somewhere on the bank of the river. She was very upset.

I had a history of losing expensive semi-permeable contact lenses. Today, it would be no big deal to lose a contact lens, but this was long before the days of two-week and one-day disposable lenses. For financially-strapped college students, replacing a lost lens was a time-consuming, expensive, big deal. I was devastated on Shannon's behalf. The group of us looked everywhere in the dirt and grass, but the lens had disappeared.

In the middle of the frustration, our friend Elaine started cracking jokes. She was laughing about how funny we looked scrambling, hunched over, and crawling all over the place. She said something about us looking like gigantic ants. She joked we were the blind leading the blind.

I took Shannon aside, "Hey, sorry Elaine is being so insensitive," I said. "She is making light of this. Seems like she has no sympathy at all."

"Actually, I appreciate her lightening things up," said Shannon. "I think it helps to laugh in situations like these."

What? I was shocked. Laughing about the situation was helping her?

It was the first time I heard that a way to deal with an upsetting circumstance could be to relax, laugh, and lighten up. 

I'm so grateful for that lesson. Since then, I have been in numerous situations where sometimes laughing is all I can do. Lightening up doesn't change the circumstance, but it can help problems feel more bearable.   

Laughter has helped me a lot lately. As I get older, I often think about entropy. I've noticed that if I'm not actively trying to improve, then everything tends to devolve, fall apart, or implode. Rest needs to be built into every day, but so does diligence. Small, steady steps up and forward are usually sufficient. In fact, most days, tiny efforts are preferable. Persistence is helpful. Being cheerfully consistent is even better. 

This long-lasting latex balloon has reminded me I can be cheerful despite my circumstances the past few weeks.

I don't know if it was just tied incredibly well, or if there is a new kind of "hi-float" that works better than the old kind. Whatever the reason, this happy balloon has lasted for almost three weeks. My experience of this kind of balloon is that they only float for a few days then die. I still can't believe this one kept floating for nearly three weeks! 

Yesterday, we started calling it "Bob," because it finally started bobbing lower and lower, succumbing to depleting helium and gravity. Today, it's on the ground. But that's okay. I'm grateful it reminded me that sometimes lightening up is the best thing we can do.

Just as I finished writing this post, my husband (who had no idea what I was doing) coincidentally shared this quote with me by Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

"Despair drains from us all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Hope on the other hand, is like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizons of our present circumstances."