Laugh a little!

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Wade Lawrence
  • 60th Civil Engineer Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE Calif. --  An ice fisherman was sitting with his line in a hole in the ice, but he wasn't having any luck. Two hours passed and not a nibble. A kid, maybe seven or eight-years-old approached, cut his own hole in the ice, and without a word, dropped his line and immediately began to pull in some of the largest fish the man had ever seen.

Flabbergasted, the man overcame his curiosity, and asked the lad: What was his secret?

The kid said, "Wrroo wrahhh rahh eeh ahh wrr wrr ..." The man wasn't sure if the kid even spoke English, and repeated his question. Again the kid said,"Wrroo wrahhh rahh eeh ahh wrr wrr ..."
"One more time, son. What was it you said?" The kid looks at the man, spits the contents of his mouth into the palm of his hand, and says: "You have to keep the worms warm!"

So, what's the point of this joke? Frankly, I really don't have one, other than the fact I thought this was pretty funny, and that sometimes I think we just need to laugh a little bit more.

We live in dangerous times, and perform a very serious mission at what has to be one of the busiest air bases in the world. But under this tremendous pressure and Ops tempo, we can tend to forget that sometimes we all need to take a few deep breaths, smile and lighten up a bit. If you're like me, you personally know many people who just don't get this concept - they're too busy worrying, blaming or complaining. I honestly don't know how folks can go through life constantly being so bitter or negative! So here's my advice - if you find yourself tending toward these traits, chill out! Using humor and keeping it light won't make your workload or personal problems disappear, but it will sure make them easier to handle.

There's a great verse in the Bible about being content no matter what your conditions are. Okay, so that's pretty hard to do sometimes, but if you can laugh at yourself and laugh with other folks in the midst of your day-to-day chaos, I guarantee you'll enjoy life so much more. Remember that our Air Force core value of "Excellence In All We Do" can certainly apply to having an excellent attitude and sense of humor!

I'll just leave you with one more thought: A man and a friend are playing golf one day at their local golf course. One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer. His friend says: "Wow, that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen. You truly are a kind man." The man then replies: "Yeah, well we were married 35 years."