A large segment of the human population takes things too seriously for their own good. The strange anomaly is that most people laugh at the wrong thing and don’t laugh at the right thing. This gross incongruity has robbed people of a healthy attitude toward life in general.

Those who take life too seriously risk missing out on the great joys of living in a crazy world like ours. I’m not sure about the scientific research, but I guess for every sad moment it takes a hundred laughs to balance the books. Some people take ninety-nine laughs to get to a really healthy moment.

I like the old English proverb that says: “Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and cry alone.”

From my perspective, if you can’t laugh with someone, you won’t be able to cry with him or her and that means something.

According to some medical advice, it takes more facial muscles and energy to frown than to smile. Of course, the only exercise some people do is frown and who am I to take that away from them.

I am determined, whatever happens, to exercise my right to smile, laugh and enjoy the world around me. I must confess that I have this attitude in all sincerity.

My paternal grandfather was a Past Master in the area of ​​practical jokes. No amount of time was too long to prepare for one of his famous practical jokes. His favorite holiday was April 1 and he started preparing for this holiday right after Christmas.

The fact that his practical jokes sometimes got him into trouble didn’t seem to affect him at all.

Once, while he was in the hospital for an extended period, someone smuggled him a snuff can. For some reason he liked to chew snuff. It is the most disgusting habit I know on earth.

As soon as he received his contraband goods, he began to chew on them. If you know anything about chewing snuff, you know that it is accompanied by a lot of spitting. As usual, their timing was flawless. Just as the head nurse passed her door and looked inside, she leaned over and spat into the garbage can next to her bed. The nurse, not knowing about the chewing tobacco, thought he was spitting up blood and immediately went into emergency mode. Immediately, my grandfather was rushed to the operating room and the surgeon and the medical team met.

My grandfather was very ill at the time. Some did not think he would leave the hospital.

Just as they placed him in the operating room, he pulled his snuff can from under the sheet and smiled at them. The only person in the room who thought this was funny in any way was my grandfather. The doctors were so angry with him that they refused to see him for three days and confiscated his snuff can.

My aunt and uncle lived with my grandfather. My aunt was very clean when it came to her home. Dirt in any form was not welcome under his roof. He had a broom that was always within reach because he never knew when a piece of land would try to invade his home.

That year my grandfather found something new. I’m not sure where you found it, but you probably spent a long time looking for something like this. It was a very nasty looking vomit rubber imitation. For him it was a prized possession.

Most of his practical jokes were executed on April 1. Whenever we saw Grandpa coming on this particular day, we usually ran for cover.

He went to visit my aunt and he was sitting on the sofa in the living room. They chatted for a while and then my grandfather started coughing a little. He said to my aunt, “I haven’t been feeling well lately. I really don’t know what it is.” Then he began to cough a little more seriously, to which my aunt got up and went to the kitchen to get him a glass of water, thinking that I could help him.

When he returned, he was surprised to see a horrible sight on his new coffee table. My grandfather was leaning over the coffee table coughing and coughing like he was about to die. There was a very nasty-looking vomit on the coffee table.

My aunt became hysterical. He turned around and at one point grabbed his broom and headed towards my grandfather. My grandfather laughed, but not for long.

Suddenly he realized that the waved broom in my aunt’s hand was pointed at him. She chased him out of the house, down the driveway and for at least three blocks yelling obscenities at him that I dare not repeat in public society.

Laughter is the fresh air of the soul. Even the Bible believes so.

“A joyful heart makes the face glad, but a sadness of the heart breaks the spirit” (Proverbs 15:13). And, my favorite, “A cheerful heart does good as medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).

I recommend a healthy dose of medicine for your soul.