Recently I was talking to a Coach on his campus. His most recent season had not gone well. We talked about lessons learned and out of all we talked about, one thing in particular struck me. Coach started talking about how he realizes he hasn’t been much fun to be around. No jokes, no amusement, no laughter. It got me thinking about the power of laughter. How telling is it that people can make a career, often a lucrative one, out of traveling around making people laugh? There is something special about a good, hard laugh.
King Solomon wrote “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22). How true is that? I could go on and on, but I won’t. The principle speaks for itself. Do a Google Image search for “Coach laugh” then do one for “angry Coach“. Which group would you rather hang out with?
I know what you’re thinking…sometimes as a Coach I will be unhappy or displeased. I cannot be Mr. Rogers smiley guy/gal all the time. I know that. But when we find ourselves in a place where our lives are characterized by frustration and angst, that’s not a healthy place to park. When we’re sinking, we can get with people and get with God, and find a way to laugh. Also, find another person to laugh with. Call up someone you coached with years ago and tell funny old stories about getting the golf cart out of the rental truck. It looks different for everyone, but figure out what it looks like for you.
If our goal is to be effective, productive human beings, we must be able to escape the depths of despair. Laughter is a great tool for just that. Better still, it’s best when shared with others which makes us all better.
80’s Lyric