To Laugh

In the face of change, of disappointment, of stress and of conflict, it seems that I have just one option these days. To laugh. To shake it off, and say, with a few more wrinkles around my eyes and a few more grey hairs, "This too shall pass." Or, "I can do anything for four months." Or, most recently, "So all of my post-graduate work expired without achieving a credential, so now I get to do grad school all over again. Okay. What is the next step?" I want to throw a fit. I want to sob, to kick and scream like a two-year-old in the middle of the mall who is not now, and maybe not ever, getting that ice cream cone. But I have responded that way before, and all it got me was tired, red-eyed, and no closer to anything good. So, here I am, not yet old and wise but older and wiser than the last time, and ready to respond to this new bout of shift changes, work stress (both his and mine), and grad school Round 2 with a little more dignity. One of my favorite verses of all time, Proverbs 31:25, says "She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come." I'm choosing to laugh, not because I'm naive or foolish, although I have been both of those things. I'm going to laugh because I am putting on strength and dignity, and when I am wearing such armor there will be no pouting for me.