Learn to laugh in the chaos

Recently, someone decided to try to make my life as difficult as possible, without apologizing. As a result, my husband had to monitor my blood pressure and pulse closely, as the stress of the situation became incredibly hard to bare.

I'm pregnant, so as you can imagine, it's been especially scary.

I woke up with new eyes though. When enemies attack us, when storms arise, and when life seems grim, I want to laugh in the chaos.

So that's exactly what I did. I just started laughing. Finally, after days of turmoil, I just laughed, and laughed, and laughed. I laughed when I made my coffee, I laughed when I was with my kids, I laughed with my husband and friends and I laughed myself to sleep. Like, actually laughed as I fell asleep at night.

The laughter was doing something to me. I've gradually felt my serotonin levels come back. Have you heard of the age-old expression, "Laughter is the best medicine"?

Well, it's true. Countless studies have been done on the physical and mental effects of laughter over the years. Not only does it reduce stress (obviously), it also lessens pain and can even improve your immune system.

Then combine laughter with prayer and trust in God, journaling and companionship, and you're setting yourself up for a whole new way of thinking, and it's good. Laughing is as if to say: "Ok, big storm, I know you appear strong and scary, but I'm not afraid of you".

If you're going through a storm right now, laughing may be the last thing on your mind, and that's OK. But if it's possible, see if you can find something funny about the situation.

Play a game with yourself. See how many hypocrisies and ironies you can find in the chaos you're in. Write them out. Verbalize them out loud. Eventually, you will start to see the tornado as a little dust devil.

With great storms often comes great irony. 

And if you're anything like me, you know that God is in the midst of your storms. Let Him be your anchor through it, and be sure to laugh along the way.

On a side note, be sure to follow me on Twitter @tellchantel for real, raw, honest inspiration on how to laugh in the chaos.