Life is paved with rocky roads and jagged stones,

With bristles and nettles and scorching hot soles,

With doubt and fear and failure too,

In fact, sometimes it seems there's no one more miserable than you.

 

But don't despair yet, for you'll have at your side,

A sense of humor to fight back the tide,

A chuckle or a chortle,

A giggle or a guffaw—

Any laugh is a good laugh if it makes you feel immortal,

 

For life is serious, but the serious do not last.

 

So laugh and laugh, and then laugh a little more,

Till your eyes crinkle, cheeks ache and abs get sore,

Till your drink splurts out, lungs heave and eyes cry free,

Laugh until your friends laugh too—your laugh is funnier than the joke, they all agree.

 

And wield your laugh like a sword, conquer anxiety,

And strum it like a chord, become a rock star of positivity,

And share it like a gift, become a master of philanthropy—

Whether your humor is light and playful,

Or dark and twisted,

It will be your best friend forever if you choose to enlist it.

 

Life has taught me the serious do not last,

And I am the least serious of them all,

 

Because I’ve had my loyalties betrayed,

Lovers laugh in my face,

Health disintegrate and

My name stamped on a disability form,

And through it all—

My friends turned strangers on the streets,

My dreams rendered unrealistic and

My finances flushed away,

I have laughed and laughed and laughed,

And my humor has made happiness the new norm.