Living your joke

We are known for taking jokes as jokes. And our sense of humor has really made us survive in our country where teleseryes rule.

We love to laugh, just as much as we love a good cry in an exciting romance on the screen. We enjoy the thrill of a suspenseful story and bask in winning in an exchange of wit in the drop-line fad.

We snicker and laugh aloud at the negative jokes that people make at the expense of others, making me sometimes wonder whether the person making the joke was being funny or insensitive.

There are many things to laugh about, but sometimes, hurting others in the process of securing your own fun may not be a funny matter after all.

Sometimes, bullying at school may start with chiding but the pain of ridicule may be carried by the object of fun to his dying day. And if his spirit were not strong enough, he may not even get away from the discomfort of being shy or insecure.

At work, I used to post cards to make me cope with stress. I thought I was helping myself by making fun out of the things I had to do. I pasted slogans like : “Today’s deadline was YESTERDAY!” and “Just when I knew the answers, they changed all the questions,” and “Stress is my daily pill!” ‘Til I got overtaken by all the negative vibes they sent into my subconscious.

In an article by Dimpel Patel, the author has noted that “every single thought we have is ingrained in our cells and into our DNA. Over time, negative thought patterns manifest in physical illnesses.” I noted that the sarcasm in my seemingly light jokes that would face me day by day when I get to my work station were slowly manifesting the stress in me without my really acknowledging it. Another author, Theresa Thornton has pushed forward the realization through her article stating “negative thoughts often become self-fulfilling prophesies because the mind controls our feelings and actions very well.”

A striking observation from one of twitters made me realize how our mind has slowly absorbed stress in our denial of it through jokes. Instead of coping, we were really slowly adopting them into our system and adapting our bodies to take on the weight of our hectic lifestyles.

“We are looking for negatives because we are not really expecting positive outcomes!” is what the twitter said. This jolted me. Are we no longer looking forward to what is good? Has our joke world been infected too by the many negative inputs we place in our minds? Has sarcasm replaced our funny and happy thoughts? Has a smirk replaced our smile?

While we still can, let us get rid of things that bring in negative thoughts. Bad jokes.Sarcastic postcards.Negative messages. Let us learn to look at work and at life as a gift. At the numerous activities we have to do as a satisfying call for the use of our skills. For is it not that to whom God has given more, He also requires more?

Taking in that thought, we can rest in the knowledge that we will not be given tasks beyond our measure and we will achieve all things through Christ who strengthens us. Take heart and watch your heart.