One of the things that has been and continues to be a source of light and uplifting power in my life is laughter. Good, clean, wholesome humor has been a great influence in my life for good. Now, certainly there are serious things in life that need to be taken seriously, things that we should not make light of. And there are times that call for solemnity and reverence. And laughter that comes at the expense of others, as a result of tearing them down and demeaning them, is simply unkindness and cruelty thinly disguised as humor and is not cool. But a good and appropriate sense of humor can do much to lessen the load of life’s troubles and bring greater enrichment and joy to us as we walk through life. There is just something about a good laugh that does much to gladden the heart, cheer the soul and make the day brighter.
There are two skits from a new sketch comedy TV show produced by BYU Television called Studio C that I have seen within the last month and a half that I think are quite funny. One of them in particular is very funny in my opinion. I have gotten a good laugh out of them and they have gladdened my heart and cheered my soul. In the hopes that they will also gladden your heart and brighten your day, I am putting videos of both of these skits at the end of this post.
I felt hesitant and was unsure of whether or not I should put up this post with videos of these comical skits, wondering if doing so really fit with the tenor, spirit and theme of wondrous light that I desire to create with my blog. But then I remembered an occasion when a funny cartoon I saw really helped to lift my spirits and cheer me up during a difficult time in my life.
For those of you who may not fully understand my physical condition, I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which, put simply, causes my muscles to gradually weaken over time. About 10 years ago this weakening process had really begun to affect my lungs, making it more difficult for me to breathe and get sufficient oxygen. This necessitated my being put on a ventilator to assist my breathing and compensate for my weak lung muscles. Being put on a ventilator required me to undergo a surgical procedure called a tracheotomy, where they basically created an opening in my throat that allows a ventilator to be connected directly to my airway, bypassing the mouth and nose.
The ventilator has been a tremendous blessing in my life and has improved my health dramatically, and I’m very thankful to the Lord for the wonderful advances in medical technology that have prolonged and preserved my life. As it says in a verse from the Book of Mormon, the Lord truly "is preserving [me] from day to day, by lending [me] breath, that [I] may live and move and do according to [my] own will" (Mosiah 2:21). However, the few months it took me to fully recover from the surgery and adjust to being on a ventilator were difficult and challenging to say the least. Those few months were a dismal and discouraging time in my life. That’s not to say that every single moment of those months was miserable, because there were many good and happy moments during those months as well. But there were times when I felt really down about things and prospects for the future did not feel all that bright.
It was during this difficult and challenging time that I was watching TV and saw a rather ridiculous Goofy cartoon. It was maybe a five-minute cartoon depicting the zany antics of Goofy and a mountain lion. It wasn’t the wittiest or most clever thing in the world, to be sure, but on that particular occasion it struck me as being incredibly funny and really made me laugh. And the good laugh I got from that short cartoon really did a lot to gladden my heart and lift my spirits. The challenges I was experiencing at that time were still there, but somehow they didn’t seem to be quite as overwhelming as they had been, and my hope for the future suddenly seemed to be significantly brighter. Certainly, there were still challenging and difficult weeks ahead of me, and there were times I still felt quite discouraged, but the good laugh that cartoon gave me was a source of refreshment to my soul that helped me to find joy in the journey and press on with renewed hope, courage and optimism. I’m grateful to the Lord for the blessing that funny cartoon was at that time in my life, and for the blessing of good humor generally.
There is truly great power for good, even wondrous light, in wholesome and appropriate humor. Remembering this experience from my life confirmed to me the appropriateness of sharing a couple of funny videos on this blog. If you’re having a hard day I hope these videos will help to gladden your heart, make your day brighter, and give you increased hope for the future. And if you don’t find these videos to be funny I hope you can at least laugh at how ridiculous my sense of humor can be :-).
This first video is a humorous spoof of the classic computer game The Oregon Trail, one of my favorite games to play in my elementary school days during visits to the computer lab. This is the one that I think is very funny, and the funnier of the two. Those of you familiar with The Oregon Trail computer game may appreciate this one more and find it funnier, but I think and hope it will still be funny for those of you who may not be familiar with it.
Peter Piper picked a pair of pickled peppers. Sally sells sea shells by the seashore. If you think it’s hard to say these, try repeating some of the dialogue from the following video. The title of this skit is "Dana’s Dead," but please do not let that turn you away. It’s not morbid or dismal, and in the end no one dies. While not quite as funny as the previous video in my opinion, I think it is still really funny.
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