Laugh with Me




God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
Sarah said,God has blessed me with laughterand all who get the news will laugh with me!
She also said,Whoever would have suggested to Abrahamthat Sarah would one day nurse a baby!Yet here I am! I’ve given the old man a son!

Genesis 21:1-7
How wonderful that Sarah could experience laughter in such a miraculous, yet admittedly odd situation! She sees laughter as a gift, a blessing from God. I couldn't agree more.

If there is one thing that serves me well on this rollercoaster we call life, it's my sense of humor - my ability to laugh at life's more ornery situations. Laughter is a priceless tool in parenting, teaching, and living life with chronic pain and illness. 

Just the other day I had bilateral cat scan guided sacroiliac injections to hopefully treat the pain and inflammation therein. I called the day before the procedure to see if there were any specific instructions, an earlier arrival time, or the need to stay after the procedure for observation. I was transferred to radiology, who transferred me to same day surgery, then registration, then back to same day surgery, and finally was told that radiology would call me back with instructions. By the morning of the procedure, I hadn't heard back from radiology, but did receive a call from them shortly before we were about to leave, asking if I could come in early. We rushed out the door and to the hospital.

Upon arriving, I followed the instructions to take a certain elevator to Same Day Surgery to check in. Same Day Surgery sent me to Radiology, who looked in the system and sent me back to Same Day Surgery. The wonderful woman there checked her list, her computer, talked to a couple people, called Registration, then called Radiology and instructed me to return to Radiology. 


I could have gotten angry at the runaround, both figurative and literal, that I had been getting for two days, or I could choose to laugh. I chose to employ my sense of humor and tendency toward forgiveness.  It seems that a couple transposed numbers in the system had me scheduled in the wrong place, therefore the confusion. 


In the confusion of that day, I forgot to call my Mom, who was my ride home, to tell her I was going in early and therefore needed to be picked up an hour or so earlier. Upon returning to the hospital lobby after the procedure, I realized that it was just minutes before my originally scheduled appointment and my Mom wouldn't be picking me up for another hour and a half. I could have gotten annoyed with myself for once again not connecting the dots, leading to wasted time, or I could take a deep breath, take in the Christmas tree and peaceful surroundings, and be thankful for time to myself I chose the latter. 

How would your life improve if you chose the gift of laughter over anger or frustration?

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