I can’t remember exactly when I first had the experience of unintentionally making other people laugh at something I said or did.  But what I do remember is the feeling I got when it happened.  I was so excited that I was the cause of the laughter.  It was great!  What a fantastic thing it is to hear laughter for any reason.  But I made it happen!  Wow!

The peculiar thing about this is that I don’t think I am capable of  doing it any other way.  It just occurred to me, as I am writing, that maybe I inherited this from my dad.  He couldn’t tell a joke to save his soul, but he often made us laugh at the things he said or did.

That was a wonderful gift to him, as he was so happy to be the one that caused it.  I never realized that I also did this, till now.

Once in a while, I am able to remember a joke and tell it correctly.  But I never get the laughs like the unintentional ones.  It helps if I am being positive in a bad situation, which I try to do as much as possible.  It is at those times I will try to say something encouraging.  But fairly often, it has happened to be a funny or odd thing to say.  Whenever something is sad or challenging I want to make it better.  That’s when the words come tumbling out of my mouth.  Often, my intention is just to say something to break the mental tension that can permeate the room.  Laughter definitely does that.  And it adds the physical release that often accompanies the negative mental state one is experiencing.

The best thing, that I also learned from my dad, was just to be myself.  Maybe the more I don’t take myself too seriously, the more I become my truest self.  Who knew?  I sure didn’t.  Just writing about something, anything really, can inform me, about me.  And that’s a very good thing!