The Best Medicine

Laughter is the best medicine when it comes to heartbreak, sadness or just difficult situations. I’ve seen from experience that there are times when it is better to laugh it off and times when it might not be appropriate to laugh the challenge is how to figure out when it is okay to laugh and when it is not. Most people will laugh when they mess up in an embarrassing situation to make it less awkward or embarrassing to them, while others will hide in the embarrassment of their mistake. I find it easier in most situation to laugh off my pain, embarrassment, or sadness I remember one situation very clearly.

Going into high school I lost a lot of friends and for me that was very hard but instead of sulking and blaming myself for these losses, I tried to find all the little things that were good about this not so good situation. At first I blamed myself for this situation and thought that the reason they left was because I was not a good enough friend, I soon found out that things would come to bite those who left me in the butt. My freshmen and sophomore year were the hardest years of high school because I was never apart of the ‘cool kids group’ and I was not invite to events or outings with those who I thought were my friends. I soon realized that the things they were doing I did not want to be apart of, I did not want to be apart of the group that excludes everyone and thinks that they are better than everyone. Instead, I took a big step into the world of high school and decided that I would find new people and surround myself with those who make me happy.

My biggest success from the loss of friends was being able to look at it and laugh because I know that deep down I am a good friend and them leaving was a loss for them. I think about all the times I have laughed at my pain and this example is the one that I cherish the most because it helped me as a person and a friend, I learned that if they are not there for you when you need them, then you need to move on. I laugh now because it is happening again, I am losing friends that I thought would be there for me all the time, but they have been pushing me away because I am finding things and people that make me truly happy. I have learned that the true friends are the ones who want to be there for your successes and failures and help you and raise you up in both situations.

Another time laughter helped me get through a tough time was when my mom and my step dad went through a divorce. I was maybe eleven when I got the news that my step-dad was leaving my mom because he found someone he thought was better than my mom. HA, okay first off let us look at this from my point of view. My mom is the strongest, hardest working, most loving and caring women I know and he thinks he can find better than that? The saddest part about this whole situation is that he went for a women my mom works with who is married, has kids so not only is he breaking up my family but he is breaking up another family. Great guy right? Well that is what I thought for the longest time too, but I laugh about it now and I laughed about it then because I know that you can not get better than my mom so that man is very stupid for doing that. His loss I guess, and plus you get these amazing women and two awesome kids, a definite loss for him.

Looking back now, I laugh because while they were out there making bad decisions that would turn around and bite them in the butt, I was making memories that would follow me into the next years of my life. I had found a group of people who helped me mentally and emotionally, they taught me to look at all the little mistakes in life and to learn from them, laugh about them and move on. I have also learned that the world does not wait for you. While my step dad is out there with his new women my mom is glowing, she is so happy with the man she is with now and I am so happy she found him because he fits in with the family as if he was MEANT to be there. I laugh because he lost the best thing that could have happened to him as if it was nothing, which is sad, for him not us. I laugh because people make decisions that are very um, not so smart and while they are doing that, the people they do that to are flourishing. I think that in most situations laughing makes the pain go away and makes dealing with and looking back on the situation that much easier, laughter is definitely the best medicine. Photo on Foter.com