The #1 Thing That Gets Me Through Difficult Days

My coping mechanism in trying times.

Photo by Ian Chen on Unsplash

I remember the first few hours after my mother took her last breath.

I also remember the first few days. Then the first few months.

Constant sadness pulsing in the back of my head. Grief somehow became a part of me I can’t really shake off.

I remember the fear.

The beautiful woman lying with her eyes closed so peacefully inside the casket had been my rock, my safe haven for years. The first person I ran to when I need advice or just someone to talk to. She was not just my mother, she was my best friend and my confidante, someone I can talk to freely about absolutely anything and everything under the sun.

And she was gone.

Oh, the fear.

And now it’s back again.

The pulsating anxiety for the uncertainty of tomorrow, sorrow for the thousands of lives lost.

Many of us are now living in fear of an enemy we cannot see with our naked eyes.

And I am being transported into my anxious days, when I didn’t know how I would go on without my mother.

I had found my coping mechanism back then.

Laughter.

How Can You Still Laugh? Your Mother Is Dead

As odd as it sounds, humour has kept me sane through the most challenging times in my life.

More than a good coping mechanism, laughing has been scientifically proven to have many benefits for health. It lowers blood pressure, reduces stress and anxiety and most importantly, is a great immune booster.

In times when our survival highly depends on our immune system, it is important to make sure we get our daily dose of laughter.