I Had To Laugh

Shannon (right) and her girls Megan (middle) and Chelsea

Over the many years that I have known Shannon, I have heard her say many times, "I had to laugh, or I would have cried".  Her happy outlook, and her way of laughing through hard things is one of the things that I admire about her most.  Her reaction to things is often not like mine.  I cry.  I cry when I am too tired, or too hungry, or in too much pain.  I cry with frustration and discouragement.  I even cry when I'm really happy sometimes!  I remember asking Shannon how she managed to laugh instead of cry.  I don't remember exactly what she said, just that she preferred to laugh, and so she chose to do that instead of crying.

There is a quote by Marjorie Hinckley that I have heard a lot.  She said, “The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”  The first time I heard this, my first thought was, "Wow, Sister Hinckley is quoting Shannon!"  I had heard this idea first from my friend.

This past General Conference one of the things I felt impressed to work on was on choosing to be happy more often.  Now, I make myself sound kind of weepy and unhappy, and I do not think I am really like that the majority of the time, but that does not mean that I can't choose happiness more often!  I have worked on this for years, and I can look back and see improvements.  I have come to understand myself better, and in realizing that I am often crying just out of exhaustion, I can find it in me to laugh instead.  There is so much in life to be happy about, and so much help available for hard days.  I hope to find myself, when telling a friend about a frustrating situation I faced, saying, "I had to laugh!"