What makes you laugh? Life without laughter would be dull and sad. Likewise, marriage should never be all work; marriage needs shared laughter. There is a big difference in laughing at someone and laughing with someone. Laughing at someone hurts; laughing with someone joins the two of you. Our senses of humor are truly individual. It takes time and experience to appreciate each others’ senses of humor as sources of richness in our marriages.

In that richness, we see that our shared laughter is triggered by a variety of situations. The antics of our kids or pets, comic strips that reflect our life at some stage, particularly crazy billboards, or some comedies seem like obvious sources. Less obvious is the laughter triggered by incongruity, things that are hilarious because they are true but don’t seem to fit together at all, like the things our mothers said in dementia, or the things we said in anger, after we realized how ridiculous we sounded. In Steel Magnolias, Truvy says, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.  Laughter provides much needed release from stress as it exercises our muscles and pops our endomorphins. Laughing together grows our marriage muscles.

What do you appreciate about your spouse’s sense of humor?

What do you appreciate about laughter in your marriage?

 What silly things do you remember from the early days of your relationship?

When has laughter saved the day?

Turn to your spouse and share knee to knee.

Credit: “Wonderful Wednesdays”
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