Laughter truly is medicine for the soul. Often, it's easy to laugh when we hear or see something funny, especially when someone else is the brunt of it. We may find it more difficult to see the humor in something when the joke is on us. I've learned, however, through the years that being able to laugh both at other's situations as well as my own can bring healing power and strengthen a relationship.
Ladies, have you ever watched Home Improvement? I love the show because it's full of humor, and it addresses some very real and raw truths of marriage and family life. Thankfully, we are not all married to Tim the Tool Man Taylor, but the struggles we face can be equally entertaining, given the right mindset. If we can find a way to laugh with our husbands through tough situations, it will likely lighten the mood for everyone involved.
For the sake of laughter, here's a fun short story, inspired by other true stories.
A couple decided to have a cozy night in and watch a sweet and sappy tear-jerker. The wife, wrapped up in the film, went from one tear rolling down her cheek to many tears streaming down her face, thus creating an interesting ink blot figure, perhaps a lopsided butterfly -or something like that, from the smeared mascara that was no longer only in her eye region. She reached for the tissue box for the umpteenth time and laughed when she discovered the box was empty. She quickly got up and grabbed the roll of toilet paper from the front hall restroom as she knew the movie wasn't even half-way through and that she would need more than a few sheets to survive the remainder of the film.
The couple finished the movie and made dinner together. They were half-way through eating their salads when they realized they'd forgot to put in the onion they'd intentionally purchased for that meal. They joked about whose fault it was and then chose to save the onion for another day.
During after-dinner cleanup, the wife had an urgent need to use the restroom. She quietly excused herself while her husband finished up the kitchen. While sitting on the toilet, the wife remembered that she'd taken the tissue roll out of the restroom earlier and had not yet returned it. She shrunk in horror at the thought of exposing her dilemma to her husband. Frantically, she looks to the left, to the right, back behind, and under the sink. Nope. She was all alone in there, no toilet paper in sight. As a last resort, she hollered for her husband. The TV was on in the living room and it seemed he didn't hear her desperate cry. She laughed as she tried to get his attention by knocking on the wall. Still, no response. Deciding to wait for a quiet moment in the movie, she knocked again, and sighed in relief when she heard the TV go mute. "Honey? Do you need something?"
The wife chuckled to herself prior to responding. "Well, you see, I got the toilet paper earlier when we were watching the movie and I forgot to put it back." She could hear her husband's deep belly laugh from the other room.
"Babe, I've got you," he says. The restroom door creeks open and the wife thanks him for coming to her rescue. Then, she sees his hand slip through the door with a single sheet of toilet paper. She looks at it, a bit confused as she reaches for the tissue. "See. I told you I've got you, babe," the husband says as he bursts into laughter.
"What? Wait! No! I need more than this," the wife exclaims as her husband's laughter continues. He passes the rest of roll through the gap in the door, and they both laugh.
"I've always got you, babe," the husband says as he pulls the door closed.
Had this been me, several years ago, I would have been quite upset at the situation. I would have felt humiliated and small. I would have been angry that my husband would play such a mean joke on me. Why? Because I couldn't laugh at myself or see the humor in things that are truly funny situations.
Had this been me, this year, I'd likely take a new spin on it, add some depth, turn it into a fun short story and share it with my readers. Thankfully, this wasn't me. *wink*
Life happens. Sometimes our husbands may find humor in things we don't necessarily find funny. In the moments we find frustration in his humor, we should ask ourselves why. Is it truly offensive and not funny at all? Or, is our pride hindering us from seeing the humor in something that we would be laughing at if it were happening to someone else?
Today, and everyday, we can love our husbands by doing more than just laughing at them. We can laugh with them and be willing to laugh at ourselves. #JustBePerectlyImperfect
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