The Power of Laughter

On Tuesday, July 16th, at 8:38 in the morning, I woke up and felt that something  was terribly wrong. I immediately journaled to express how I felt.

Something is terribly wrong, and it is this persistent problem of depression.

I woke up today, and my very first thought was of how heavy my heart felt. With every beat of my heart, the weight grew heavier and heavier until it was hard to breathe. I can’t escape it. Last night, I almost cried myself to sleep.

In a way, I feel forgotten. I feel like it is my fault because I’m not reading my scriptures or praying consistently. The truth is, I don’t do those exact things on purpose because I have before during a dark time, and they did nothing.

I can’t remember a time when I felt so hopeless and sorrowful consistently and for so long. Anytime I want to forget, this big ole thing punches me in the face, and I am down in the pits again. This big ole thing is called my broken arm. It is a constant reminder of my pain.

Don’t get me wrong, if my arm had never been broken, that doesn’t mean I would feel like rainbows and sunshine. I know that this persistent problem of depression is not situational. The situation simply adds to it. The situation simply kicks dirt in the face of any hope or light that creeps its way in. It squashes my hopes. It burns my dreams. Until….until I am left with nothing but the constant beat of my heart. The pump of pain.

The question is: is there any hope left? Or am I left with only this never ending anguish?

I had somewhere to be at noon, so I put my journal away, and I got in the shower. As noon crept closer, I gathered my things to go. I grabbed the car keys, my thread wallet, my shoes, my hydro flask, and I headed out the door. 

The link crew training was from 12-3 PM (Link crew is a club made to help Freshman feel comfortable at High School). It was so much fun! We experienced all of the activities ourselves in order to really get to know how they worked. (We would later use these activities by ourselves with the freshmen). I met a whole bunch of new people, and I made some new friends. It’s crazy that at a bigger high school, you can go to school with someone for years and never meet them. However, I love being able to get to know new people everyday! 

Anyways, I had a blast. It ended a little bit earlier than planned, and I wanted to go get lunch. I drove to Sonic and bought a burger. Just saying, but there is something so satisfying in driving through a drive-thru as a teenager. I feel so grown up!!! [insert winkie face]

The week prior, a friend invited me to go bowling with a group of his friends, so I ate my food quickly in order to drive to Main Event. I had invited my friend, Sadie, and she was second to show up after I got there.  Sadie is the girl who had the sweet sixteen party that I broke my arm at.

Once everyone arrived, we paid for the pass, and we went to go do laser tag.After laser tag, we bowled, played shuffleboard, (which is a blast by the way) and talked. We were there from 3:30-ish to 8 PM. I can’t tell you how much we laughed and made jokes.

My entire day shifted from being extremely painful to being one of the best days ever! Laughter is POWER!

At 8, I had to leave to go to my counseling appointment. That journal entry above was an email to her, so I can’t imagine the surprise when I came in slap happy and overjoyed. 

Instead of talking about all of the pain I felt that morning and week, we spent the hour talking about how I have grown so much. For one straight hour, I just spouted wisdom. It was CRAZY! I would make a point, and I would explain why I thought it was true and significant. Then she would agree or have me expound further. 

I took notes of everything we talked about so I could write blog posts about it. It was so satisfying to realize that all of these years of counseling, group sessions, and suffering mattered. They mattered. Why? Because suddenly, all of the years of experience came to the front of my mind, and I was able to really grow. With this personal growth, comes confidence in helping others. Because I know what suffering is like. I know how to validate. I can empathize. These years of suffering are a part of me now. They are engraved and woven into my spiritual, emotional, and physical DNA. 

Think about it. What is more powerful and helpful? Sympathy or empathy? Being able to relate and feel with them, or feeling sorry for them? There is a difference, and it’s important. 

What have you been through that is the key to someone else’s pain?

Share your testimony, share your story

What have you been through that you can use to give others hope? If you don’t think you have a story, I promise you–you do, and it matters. 

Want an example? You are reading one right now. My story. A story of July 16, 2019. Going from having physical pain in my chest, to laughing so hard that all my woes washed away for a day. 

There is power in laughter. There is strength in laughter. Find a reason to laugh today. Why? Because laughter can change your day like it changed mine. Your day of strength will add to the multitude, and your story will carry on. There is power in that.