Prescription for a Vibrant Marriage...More Laughter

I love belly-laughing. There is something so refreshing about having a reason to just give it all you've got when you're laughing, holding nothing back. Early on in our marriage my husband's favorite pastime was making me laugh. And he could too. I would often be doubled-over in near-tears, trying to catch my breath over his antics and I loved it. It's one of the first things about him that I fell in love with.

Fast-forward to post-kid life and the quota for full-throttled laughter was full-on lacking. Gone was the easygoing comradery between my guy and me--replaced with talk of our kids, things that needed to get done, and how tired we both were. We didn't mean to stop laughing together, it just happened. Most days by evening-time there was nothing leftover, and anything more than a quick smile was deemed too much work. We felt old. Our marriage felt old. Our spirits felt old. What was there to laugh about?

Funny thing, though. The more you laugh, the more you see opportunities for laughter all around. The less you laugh, the more difficult it is to find anything worth delighting in. Something had to change. I'm not sure exactly when it happened but we slowly began to create opportunities for laughter again. We started by almost forcing ourselves to seek out the silliness of life. We began having family dance-parties with our little ones--showing our kids and each other our "best" dance moves. We started making fun of each other again (in love) and exaggerated one another's quirks to the point of ridiculousness. We took time to focus on being "in the moment" with one another--making eye contact and sharing smiles--and took opportunities to flirt and be silly together.

The other day I was doubled-over in laughter with my husband and I thought, "Wow, it feels so good to be doing this again. For this to be our 'norm.'" There are a lot of things that go into keeping a marriage healthy and strong. But I think one of the strongest and fastest-acting prescriptions is laughter. Let's not take ourselves too seriously today. And if you haven't had an opportunity for a good belly laugh with your mate in a while, its time to create one.

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