Humor is absolutely necessary in a life full of stress and insanity.

Whether it is dealing with being a parent, a hard worker, a good citizen, a good husband or wife, brother or sister, friend and co-worker, life is full of amny horrors that occur on a daily basis, which must be met with humor.

The ability to laugh at one’s self is the starting point and the key to the day.

If you can change your perspective on negative situations, like getting cut off in traffic, the rising gas prices, poor news reporting, nothing good to watch in the break room, your fellow dumb human beings, relatives who are clueless and have poor timing, and news reports about celebrity babies around the clock, the best and only real defense is to laugh at it all.

Yes, laughter can cut the grease of stress that will slowly but inevitably choke the life from your body.

Laughter can be the dam that holds back the flood of hatred that flows through you as a person who is slow on the uptake figures out how to ring up your two minute transaction.

You have to be able to laugh at the absurdity of this world, a world where experts do not know anything and people who are really dumb can control the ebb and flow of civilization.

How can you survive in this crude, barbaric world and not have a sense of humor.

Taking this world to seriously will make you think sad, wretched thoughts, because there is so much wrong with the world sometimes it is hard to see what is right.

So laugh it off, and do not take the little things for granted. The nagging wife, the insolent in-laws, the ungrateful children, The aggravating siblings, the sad state of international affairs, the natural disasters, the gas prices and decrepit state of the environment, the disastrous future that awaits, stumping your toe, hitting your head on the ceiling of your shed, breaking your lawnmower, getting a flat tire, forgetting your wallet and then getting pulled over by the police, life is full of funny little moments.

Moments where instead of anger, you should be thankful. Happy to be healthy, to be able to see, to have all of your limbs, your digits, your mobility.

Everything that you have that someone else can never have is a real gift, even if you consider just the basic functioning parts and take them for granted.

Every sight, every sound, every taste, every experience, has to accomadate a myriad of conditions in order to occur.

You have to be able to see, and hear, and taste, and have full mobilty to have a barbecue, play football with your kids, hug your wife or spouse and then stare at some fireworks.

A whole series of conditions you take for granted has to happen. There are people starving, at war with themselves and others.

If gas prices and a mindless media is what I have to deal with for now, I will laugh it off.

I will laugh it off because I am not under cover of nightly bomb and terror attacks, because I can go to the mall and have a relatively safe, suicide bomber free shopping experience.

Life is a crazy thing, and it should be enjoyed and laughed at every chance you get.

For, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of all the madness, life is a wonderful thing, and still it is a laughing matter.

The laughter of you with those you love, the smiles on the faces of those who you have touched, and those that have touched you.

A world of beauty speaks in laughter, the joy of which can never be overstated.