Fun Friday – Finding Laughter in Life Situations

 

Never leave these in your car, they're delicious. Everyone thinks so.

My Mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.’” Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump’s Mama was right...you never know what you’re gonna get in life. I didn’t expect what I got as I drove to work the other day.

I must confess…I’m a snacker. I am rarely without a snack of some kind. It could be an apple...but it could also be something chocolatey.

I tried a new snack – it was dark chocolate, nuts, and sea salt. About a 4oz bag. I munched on it in the car, chewed slowly savoring each bite, as the experts say we should do. And I was trying not to eat the whole bag in one sitting.

I only ate half.

Left the bag on the passenger seat. I didn’t need the car for a couple days because I worked form home briefly.

As I drove to work the following day, I decided to nibble on the delightful treat. I got ready to open the bag, but it was ripped near the top. I’m thinking to myself I don’t think I ripped the bag like that.

I squinted, looked more closely at the passenger seat…there were shredded pieces of the package and the bag held less than a handful of crumbs.

It’s been said that as we age our memory leaves us a little, but I know I didn’t eat that entire package.

I called my mother on the car speaker phone and said, “I think an animal has been in my car, that was parked inside the garage with all the window up.”

Her response was, “hopefully nothing is still in the car with you.”

My moms’ comment was less than comforting and filled my mind with visions animals slithering, flying, or attacking me from the backseat of my car. As I sat at a red light, I glanced at the passenger seat again. There were a few tiny black specks, about the size of a broken pencil led.

My body heated up with panic at the realization of what I saw…mouse poop. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Stuart Little are all cute character mice, but that critter who devoured my granola and relieved itself, was not cute.

What made that critter think it was okay to invade my space? There was no shingle hanging from my hood that said, “Welcome, we’ll leave the light on for you.”

My mouse incident wasn’t funny, but I needed to make light of it in order to work through it. Sometimes we have to lighten up and laugh at the crazy things that cross our paths. This is when you need a healthy dose of laugher.

E.E. Cummings said, “the most wasted day of all is one without laughter.”

Think about a situation that you’ve experienced that was less than ideal. Now think about something that would make the situation funny.

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

Go that extra mile to find humor in life situations.