I bet you knew a long, long time ago, that humour is the essence of life. Me? I just found out. Without it, how boring our lives would be! Laughter dissipates the queasy feeling welling up in us and eases up all the stress we are facing. It loosens the tight knots that bind our lips and turns strangers into long time friends.
Since I have more time now to indulge in the simple things of life, I have time to engage people in conversation. These days, I realize that the words I utter always seem strange and hillarious to others. I wonder why. One day, I was telling stories and my friend laughed 'til her jaw ached. Both of her hands held onto the jaw of her cheeks, tickled and in pain at the same time. Her twinkling eyes blinked like the stars as her eyelids shut and roared with laughter. ""Stop! Stop! Oh no! I can't take this anymore!" she pleaded with me. All the impish me wanted to do was make her laugh even more. haha.
Another time, a friend who had a dead knot in every single vein of his, smiled in absolute amazement, "Jean! I never realized that you are so funny."
Really? Seriously! I never knew too! Until I came to Dubai.
Me? I smile when I'm too shy to talk, wink when a cunning idea creeps up my head , laugh when I'm nervous, beam when I'm praised, smirk when I'm sarcastic and burst when I'm tickled. Sometimes, when I am set on being resilient in the face of adversity, my remarks come across as being cynical. People around me get bewildered and don't know what to make out of it. Because people in general are envious and jealous of the greener grass on the other side, the best way to deflate that inflated balloon is to make a joke out of it and laugh it off.
Laughter is infectious. It's the miracle cure to life's so-called 'problems'. A problem remains a problem only until it's solved. Are there any problems that can't be solved? None. Because in God, everything is possible. So, just hang on until help arrives.
Meantime, think of all the ways you're growing because of it. When help comes, you would have recovered mentally and spiritually. Naturally, physical healing will definitely follow suit.
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Annecdotes:
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I'm a person who sometimes answers without giving much thought in advance. Once, as I was walking around my office premises in China, my office mate saw me taking pictures around the park.
Curious, he asked (in Mandarin), "Hey! What are you snapping?"
Without thinking, I answered, "Snapping pictures!"
My office mate, about 30 years older than me, looked bewildered, nodded and walked away.
On hindsight, I probably gave the wrong answer. I should have answered, "Oh! I'm snapping flora and fauna! (not pictures)"
Jean! Jean! Think before you talk!
Another time, I was having a conversation with the security team at the lobby. I was elated that I was finally back in Dubai, eagerly exclaiming, with both arms outstretched, "Wow! I am so glad to be back in Dubai! Anywhere's better than Dubai!"
As I walked out of the building, I evaluated my own replies and realized that it came out sounding all wrong! How could I have said 'I'm glad to be back in Dubai' in the first sentence, and say 'Anywhere else is better than Dubai' in the next?! Oh no! There is a major flaw in my sentence logic. What I meant to say was "Nowhere can be better than Dubai!"
This must be the effect of staying in China for too long! Translating Mandarin to English, English to Mandarin, resulting in the short circuit of one of the nerves in my brains.
Oh no! I really need to buck up and think on my feet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another time, a friend who had a dead knot in every single vein of his, smiled in absolute amazement, "Jean! I never realized that you are so funny."
Really? Seriously! I never knew too! Until I came to Dubai.
Me? I smile when I'm too shy to talk, wink when a cunning idea creeps up my head , laugh when I'm nervous, beam when I'm praised, smirk when I'm sarcastic and burst when I'm tickled. Sometimes, when I am set on being resilient in the face of adversity, my remarks come across as being cynical. People around me get bewildered and don't know what to make out of it. Because people in general are envious and jealous of the greener grass on the other side, the best way to deflate that inflated balloon is to make a joke out of it and laugh it off.
Laughter is infectious. It's the miracle cure to life's so-called 'problems'. A problem remains a problem only until it's solved. Are there any problems that can't be solved? None. Because in God, everything is possible. So, just hang on until help arrives.
Meantime, think of all the ways you're growing because of it. When help comes, you would have recovered mentally and spiritually. Naturally, physical healing will definitely follow suit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Annecdotes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm a person who sometimes answers without giving much thought in advance. Once, as I was walking around my office premises in China, my office mate saw me taking pictures around the park.
Curious, he asked (in Mandarin), "Hey! What are you snapping?"
Without thinking, I answered, "Snapping pictures!"
My office mate, about 30 years older than me, looked bewildered, nodded and walked away.
On hindsight, I probably gave the wrong answer. I should have answered, "Oh! I'm snapping flora and fauna! (not pictures)"
Jean! Jean! Think before you talk!
Another time, I was having a conversation with the security team at the lobby. I was elated that I was finally back in Dubai, eagerly exclaiming, with both arms outstretched, "Wow! I am so glad to be back in Dubai! Anywhere's better than Dubai!"
As I walked out of the building, I evaluated my own replies and realized that it came out sounding all wrong! How could I have said 'I'm glad to be back in Dubai' in the first sentence, and say 'Anywhere else is better than Dubai' in the next?! Oh no! There is a major flaw in my sentence logic. What I meant to say was "Nowhere can be better than Dubai!"
This must be the effect of staying in China for too long! Translating Mandarin to English, English to Mandarin, resulting in the short circuit of one of the nerves in my brains.
Oh no! I really need to buck up and think on my feet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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