Minkyweasel World

One Girl's Outlook On Life

Archive for the ‘Happiness’ Category

Roots go deep

Posted by Shirley Anne on May 26, 2012

Topographic map of the United Kingdom.

Topographic map of the United Kingdom. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s funny how life works out sometimes. Once, long ago, I dreamed of living in some hot climate but obviously not in the UK. Admittedly it can get quite hot even here but it doesn’t last for months on end, more like weeks if we are fortunate. All interest in moving away from where I am now left me years ago. I think many people romanticize about living in warmer climes but not everyone actually uproots and moves away. In my case I had thought of moving to Australia just after my ex and I were married. We spoke about it and made tentative enquiries but decided against the idea not long afterward. Basically it was down to family ties and being able to see family members more easily. We just couldn’t tear ourselves away but had we thought about moving to Spain for instance I cannot be certain the same reason would have prevented the move. E and I are too deeply rooted to the area in which we grew up and have lived all our lives. I think most people feel this way and have no real desire to move away except for short periods such as holidays. Even the thought of moving to another county can be something of a pipe-dream. Fairly recently a friend of mine up-sticks as they say and moved to another county in the south-east of the country but that move was driven by personal circumstances and a need to be located nearer to London for person reasons at least for the short-term. Probably the move will be permanent for I see no reason she should think of returning. She will be able to plant roots and become an established member of the local community. I suppose we could all do the same thing if the wish was there. Sometimes we can be tied to a place for so long and then not be in a position to move even if we wanted to. At this moment in my life I have no such desire to move away from my present location. It is a question of being contented and happy living where we do but when we are not and there is a specific need to move away many find they have no other choice but to move. Breaking the ties to a place can be difficult for some but others have no difficulty whatsoever. To be truthful I think we can all grow to like a new place and be quite happy moving elsewhere but I don’t think we ever forget our roots.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Behaviour, Environment, Happiness, House and Home | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

I went out

Posted by Shirley Anne on March 31, 2012

A thatched pub, the Williams Arms at Wrafton, ...

A thatched pub, the Williams Arms at Wrafton, near Braunton, North Devon, England. Taken by Adrian Pingstone in July 2004 and released to the public domain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These last two years I haven’t been out as often as before, to the pub that is. Today, Wednesday I decided to break the habit and I went along to the pub, my local pub, to enjoy a drink or two and hopefully meet some friends and acquaintances there. It was such a pleasant day so after doing a couple of small jobs in the morning, returning home and eating my lunch, I changed my clothes and took a walk in the warm sunshine, ending up at the pub. It wasn’t long before I was engaged in conversation with people there, most of them new to me. Later I met with a couple of friends and chatted with them too. I didn’t wish to stay the whole evening as I’d drunk enough and as they say, enough is enough! I am trying my best to be a good girl by placing a limit on my drinking habits when out and about. Apart from the obvious health issues it is good for my purse too! I do enjoy good company and I will speak with anyone who has the time to respond to my contact with them. I have said it before but reiterate, people seem to like me! When I returned home E was already eating her evening meal (she doesn’t like the idea of pub life as much as I) so I had to prepare something for myself. We had an uncooked chicken in the fridge which needed to be cooked that day so I popped it in the oven and resigned myself to waiting the hour and a quarter for it to cook. I spent the time online catching up on emails and blog visits and by 8.30 I was able to sit down with my chicken and vegetables. I don’t know when I shall visit the pub again but I know that whenever I do I will be assured of a good time with great company. Life is what we make of it and I try my best to make it worth living.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Drink, Enjoyment, Friendship, Happiness, Lifestyle, People | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Life’s Good

Posted by Shirley Anne on March 25, 2012

Fred Neher's Life's Like That

Fred Neher's Life's Like That (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I sit here writing this on Thursday afternoon the sun is streaming in through the windows and it is pleasantly warm outside on this second day of the new season. I have nothing to do so I am fixed on enjoying the moment. Still we have had little rain and I hope this won’t continue much longer. It’s not that I prefer rain to sunshine but we simply need the rain to water the land and fill the lakes and reservoirs. The coming month has been traditionally linked to an abundance of the wet stuff and maybe this year this will be the norm. Many things in life make me feel good and make life bearable but as ever I am never content with just physical comforts and delights, I need to be spiritually content too. Life itself, that is the living of it, is different and yet in many ways the same for each of us, we all need food, shelter, relationship, companionship, friendship, something to do and everything that is necessary in making life in today’s societies possible. Many are content with these things, some want more and more and are never satisfied, others are happy with just the minimum. Everything it seems centres on the practical side of life and many forget they need a spiritual side too or they don’t consider that to be true. We are all spirit, all enclosed in our mobile homes but many don’t think on such things, their thoughts firmly stuck in the everyday hustle and bustle of life. It is when we can find time to relax and actually have nothing to do that our thoughts can be free to dwell on things, make sense of what is going on around us. Too many of us use this time just to make plans for the ongoing lifestyles we lead but when I have the time, and that is quite often these days, I think about my faith, I think about my creator, about salvation, about how inadequate and undeserving I am in the eyes of Him who made me. Then I realise how fortunate I am in the knowledge of a love that goes far beyond my thinking, far beyond my deserving, a love that deals with and forgets my mistakes, a love that paid the price for me so that I could be free from my chains, this is the love I dwell in. This love is all I need, it enables me to face life with all its problems and remain happy and content no matter what is going on around me. I don’t really care if it rains or shines for I have something of more value, something I cannot get from just living this life as if everything in it was satisfying. I could have all the riches in the world and remain empty inside but I would rather be filled with a contentment that is not sourced in the physical realm. The love my God has for me is more than enough for me to be content. His sacrifice through Jesus Christ is sufficient. Life is certainly good when Jesus is in your heart.

Shirley Anne

Posted in God, Happiness, Jesus, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Make someone happy

Posted by Shirley Anne on January 30, 2012

How Much for Happy

Image via Wikipedia

Sounds easy doesn’t it? I want to challenge my readers to make someone happy this week, someone who perhaps isn’t close to you or someone who comes into your life for whatever reason. Some of my readers will be doing this already and probably without thinking about it, others may find it a challenge. Not everybody appreciates what we do for them I know but it shouldn’t stop us trying should it? I personally do not like surprises but I do like being treated well, that is respectably. Sometimes in my working day I get unexpected rewards, for example a bottle of wine over and above my fee. Little gestures like that are pleasant to receive and they do make me happy. It is nice to know that we are appreciated now and then. Making someone happy doesn’t have to be a well thought out event, indeed it is far better when we are spontaneous for then it is likely to be more sincere I feel. Small things go a long way. Be kind and considerate when out in the world and always be ready to help those in difficulty. A lot of people live out their lives aggressively and are often selfish with it too. Some never wish to ‘get involved’ in situations and others are quick to jump in and help. Having the right attitude to life and indeed to others makes for a better person in my estimation. I will go out into the world today and forget what I’ve written here but then I know I do not need to be reminded to be nice to others because it is in my nature to be that way. I know in my heart that I will be ready to make someone happy if the opportunity arises because it makes me feel better too! I am not suggesting to my readers that they are anything else but nice people. I only suggest they might remind themselves that they are. I hope all my readers have a happy and wonderful week and along the way make someone else feel happy too.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Happiness, People, Philosophy | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Feelings

Posted by Shirley Anne on January 29, 2012

HappinessI had the strangest feeling last Friday evening. I had taken E out to lunch in the afternoon. We had travelled to various venues before arriving at the one we had originally thought of visiting in the first place. We had not been to this restaurant for quite some time, possibly more than twelve months but we had chosen well. We went the full three courses and I had my usual bottle of red wine. Later we indulged in a liqueur coffee before finally returning home. Well I actually was dropped off at the pub and I stayed there until well after midnight chatting with friends. E would have collected me had I phoned her but I decided to walk home instead. It was a dry and pleasant night if a little cold so the walk itself was nice but doing it in high heels was not to be recommended. I managed though and was home around one o’clock. I didn’t retire to bed until after two but spent some time online first. It didn’t take me long to board that train to Slumbertown but I was up again two hours later to pay the little girl’s room a visit. Half awake and half asleep I sat there a while and it was then that I was overcome with a very strong feeling, one I had never before experienced. Essentially it was a feeling of meaninglessness if there is such a word, a feeling that somehow my life was totally meaningless inasmuch as no matter what I do to be happy and to enjoy life in the end it is all quite meaningless and pointless. My thoughts turned to Scripture and specifically the Book of Ecclesiastes which describes what I was feeling about my life. I have mentioned this book before and I still recommend it as I do all of Scripture for what it contains. I have learnt to be happy and content with life, learnt to rest in the love of God and it is only because of that love that I find life bearable. We all want to be happy and content but do we really understand what that means? There are many pleasures to be had in life but they never completely satisfy the soul and we return to them repeatedly in the hope that we will have a good time and be happy. When the self-indulgent pleasure has passed we look forward to other things or a repeat of the same which tells me that life’s pleasures are but short-lived and have to be revisited over and over. In the end we tire of them. This is the feeling that I was experiencing. I realised that there is only one thing that lasts forever and it isn’t what my flesh and bones experience but it is what my spirit experiences, the love of God. Whilst I am in the flesh all I can do is to work, rest and play. I am on a merry-go-round that never stops and never really satisfies. I am constantly seeking new avenues for pleasure but it is all truly meaningless. We are but a breath, a whisper and our passing is hardly noticed in the vastness of the Universe. We live but for a short time and we are gone. All we can do is try to enjoy it the best we can. It’s what comes after that is more important.

Shirley Anne

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Food, drink and good times

Posted by Shirley Anne on January 8, 2012

Celetto Restaurant

Image via Wikipedia

I had the day to myself on Friday as I was released from my jury service until Monday. Not wanting to let the opportunity pass by to enjoy myself for the day I invited E out for an extended lunch, well they are always extended when I dine out. I love the experience of wining and dining out and generally socialising and it is nice to do that with friends and family but it is nicest when in the company with someone very special. In my case that would be my ex partner E whom I love dearly. I take the opportunity to dine out with her as often as I can so that not only do I get to enjoy myself but that she can enjoy life more than she usually does. As is the case I often ask her if she is happy so that I can help her to be happy as much as I can. She is hard to reach sometimes but I persevere for I don’t want her to feel unhappy if I can do something to change that. I wonder sometimes what makes her tick, what it is she wants out of life because I feel she is missing out on things when she should be getting the most out of life. I know she enjoys her outings with me but she is often reluctant to show that. So it was that we both went to one of our favourite haunts in the next town on Friday and had a carvery lunch with dessert and drinks. I polished off a full bottle of red wine and later had a liqueur coffee with a cream topping, similar to the picture on the right. We both had soft drinks too, she was drinking Pepsi-Cola and I was drinking the diet version in-between my sips of wine. I like the taste of the cola following the wine and sometimes I mix the two in the same glass when I am tired of drinking the wine neat, which isn’t often (LOL). We arrived at the restaurant/pub at around 1.30 and we left just before 5.00 stopping off at the supermarket for some rum, whisky and cream. I wanted to enjoy another glass or two of a liqueur coffee! I am off to work on Saturday morning which will be yesterday by the time you read this so I will not be able to have a drink, if I want one, until late in the day. I probably won’t indulge as I value having a healthy liver which needs a break now and then! I might have a drink today, Sunday but then nothing until the end of the week when I have finished my jury service. Mind you, I may get on a case that lasts longer than this coming week but in any event I will enjoy a drink or two at the weekend. I might even surprise the staff at my local pub by paying them the first visit for over six weeks. I love life and I love people who are prepared to enjoy it with me. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Drink, Enjoyment, Food, Happiness, Leisure, Life, Lifestyle, Philosophy, Values, Wisdom | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Memories

Posted by Shirley Anne on January 1, 2012

E and I went to Preston hospital this afternoon to see our first grandchild. I couldn’t wait to see her and hold her in my arms, in fact I was only there ten minutes when I got the chance. I didn’t want to give her back! So adorable, so tiny, so beautiful. I was reminded of the time my two sons were born and how they looked and how it felt to hold them for the first time. Now my eldest at 29 is a father. How time flies.  E got her chance to hold her a minute or so later. We didn’t stay too long, about forty minutes or so but we’ve plenty of time to see them all later. On the way home I asked E if she would like to dine out as we were passing a favourite restaurant of ours. She did and so we dined out for the first time in many months. A pleasant day all round.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Family, Food, Happiness, Life | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

What will you do? (And does it really matter?)

Posted by Shirley Anne on December 27, 2011

English: No matter how much it is tried (to be...

Image via Wikipedia

Another year is almost over and many will be looking back to see where they went wrong or where they succeeded in life. Perhaps they will be thinking why they didn’t really get to grips with last years resolutions with perhaps making a better attempt this time round. It is really about a mind struggle, overcoming one’s self, being determined but also being disciplined. Nothing was ever completed without effort. So what are the things which are most important to you? Is it a real desire to finally lose weight and more importantly keep it down? Perhaps you want to finally give up the weed? Is it a determined effort to make more of your life? Is your desire to help others more, pay more attention to your family, get those jobs finished, or even started, you know, the ones your wife has been asking you to do for years? Do you think that whatever plans and resolutions you make will succeed? Well they won’t, not unless you make the effort. So you have the next twelve months to make those dreams come true or at least make every effort to make them so. This time next year you may be finding how pleased you are with all that you’ve promised to do and succeeded or you may find yourself making more promises that you cannot keep. I do not make new year resolutions, not because I am afraid that I might fail, not because there may not be any to make, for I know that my life is far from being perfect, it is because I won’t make promises that I might not be able to fulfill. Any decisions I make will be on the spur of the moment, when I see a need and out of love. I won’t wish you all the best for the new year as the ‘new year’ means nothing to me but what I will wish is that your life will change for the better from this day forth and without the need to make resolutions, unless you absolutely swear by them!

Shirley Anne

Posted in Happiness, Life, Philosophy, Values | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Christmas eve

Posted by Shirley Anne on December 24, 2011

A Norwegian Christmas, 1846 painting by Adolph...

Image via Wikipedia

Christmas eve and all is well. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, no-one to see. Quietly indulging in my red wine flicking between the television channels to see if there is anything worth watching, something that hasn’t anything at all to do with Christmas, very difficult at this time of year. I tire of the pressure that is imposed on us all, if we allow it of course. Monday morning and it will all be finished with, forgotten and stored away until next year. Folk will already be looking forward to their New Year celebrations and many will stay ‘in the party spirit’ for the whole intervening week between the two celebrations. Each to their own of course but it isn’t for me. It has been at least three weeks since I visited my pub and it will be another three weeks at least before I make another visit there. Hopefully all will have returned to normality by then. I am not really a party animal but I do like mixing with people and socialising over drinks and perhaps the dinner table. I lead pretty much a quiet life and enjoy the simpler things. As I write this (on Thursday….well I said I wanted a break from blogging) there has been no news regarding the arrival of my first grandchild but I will post something when it happens. I won’t be wishing everyone a happy/merry Christmas/New Year but I do wish everyone to be happy in their lives, to love one another and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. May God bless you all.

Shirley Anne

PS….I got a phone call which got me out of bed in order to reconnect an electrical supply for someone 12 miles away. Somehow I knew that was going to happen, a premonition, a vision if you like but I knew it was going to happen. The strange thing is I get these visions quite often lately. The supply was re-instated and all is well.

Posted in Enjoyment, Happiness, Life, Lifestyle, Love, People | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Where am I now?

Posted by Shirley Anne on December 17, 2011

Illustration for "Story of your Life"...

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been considering my life quite a lot lately, much of that about my gender transition but also about my life in general, work, relationships, health, lifestyle and so on. I suppose it is all to do with age and how I am reacting to the changes that come naturally with it. Some things I have no control over but over much of it I do maintain control. I know I am not able to do things as quickly as I once did, in all areas of my life. I am finding that I like the free time I get when not working and the fact that I can accept work or not. I have turned down a few jobs of late, mostly because they were too big to take on when I don’t want to work full days, especially as the work was highly labour orientated. I get much satisfaction in doing smaller jobs whilst still earning a decent wage, not that I actually need the cash but one day I might so I save what I can too. My health has been suffering a little lately, aches and pains in my back muscles for a few days forced me to take things easy for a while. I am generally quite a fit and healthy person and I do look after myself, eating the right food and getting exercise when I am able. All of my life I wanted to transition and there have been a thousand and one reasons for me not doing so early in life but when I did transition over nine years ago, well nine years since my operations, I was as happy as I could be. The change in hormones fuelled a change in my perceived sexuality which was rather confusing at first but I finally settled down to what is normal for me. These days I feel I am asexual, having no urges to indulge in any kind of sexual acts either with myself or with anyone else. I have never enjoyed self stimulation of my vagina but was readily aroused if someone else did it! I now have a vagina that gets no sexual activity at all so dilation is pointless and this is the way I want it to be. Some might say that is a waste of all that I have gone through to get where I am but life is not about sex, especially when no interest is taken in it. Yes, I could still be stimulated and probably, no, certainly would get aroused (I still get feelings of arousal but take no action on it) if I pursued a life that involved sexual activity. However and although I have a high but suppressed libido, I choose not to. Some things in life I can choose to leave without missing them, sex is one of them. I still get advances from guys though. How does the saying go? I would much prefer a pan of Scouse (similar to Irish stew in Liverpool for those who may not know). So where am I now? Well apart from my family and one or two friends I am quite alone, no relationships. no lovers and happy as I can be.

Shirley Anne

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Will she ever learn?

Posted by Shirley Anne on October 16, 2011

Some typical alcoholic beverages.

Image via Wikipedia

I have just read one of my daily ‘words’ from Scripture the essence of which tell me that even though I may strive to be perfect in every way I know that I shall never attain perfection for as long as I live. The reading points out that I should be telling myself daily that I know I am not perfect but that I am better than I was before. A good philosophy to be sure. There are areas in my life though where I struggle to get better for I will forget the promises I make to myself and over-indulge. On Friday I spent the afternoon, late afternoon that is, at the pub. I sat there for a couple of hours watching people come and go whilst I was reading a newspaper and having a drink.  Eventually the pub filled to capacity but I remained seated and alone by choice.  Later I began to mingle and before long found myself in the company of friends. Drifting along with the conversations, meeting new people and generally having a good time robbed me of my sensibility and I ended up shall we say, slightly inebriated! Horror of horrors I hear you say but it is all so easy to forget one’s promises not to get drunk when one has had too much to drink and therein lies the danger. Switching to soft drinks is the better solution and one that I should endeavour to embrace more often. Let’s hope I eventually learn my lesson and be a little more responsible in future. I arrived home in the early hours after the fifteen minute walk from the pub and was so hungry I rustled up a meal. Still not tired after my escapade I took to surfing the Web and posted comments on other folks blogs. I was beginning to doze off when I made my way upstairs at five in the morning! I remember looking at the clock at five-thirty and then fell asleep, in the correct attire for the occasion I might add and not in my normal clothes! I awoke at ten fully refreshed and most definitely not with a hang-over. I drink far too much water after drinking alcohol to end up with a splitting morning-after headache. Dehydration or lack of it is something I have under complete control. It only remains for me to keep myself under control when out enjoying myself.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Behaviour, Drink, Enjoyment, Friendship, Happiness, Leisure, Lifestyle, Philosophy, Temptation | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

It’s a bit of a laugh innit?

Posted by Shirley Anne on September 19, 2011

Best Viewed Large

Image via Wikipedia

I realised something yesterday about a previous post I’d written regarding not being bothered and how it seemed to picture me as a lost soul who was tired of living. That couldn’t be further from the truth as I love life and really do enjoy it. I realised too that every day I find myself laughing at something, in fact I cannot remember a day when I didn’t laugh even just a little. The only time that would not be true is when I am ill but that isn’t often. I see the funny side of things in life and find myself laughing at myself sometimes. The slightest thing can set me off laughing sometimes but I do have a serious side too. I think that if we cannot find humour in our lives we are indeed sad people. Many things in my life frustrate me but I never let them get the better of me and I never worry about anything, what’s the point? Worrying doesn’t change a thing. Life’s a long song, a gas, as the songwriters say and that is only true if you have the right attitude to it. I am not saying that I never feel down because I do at times but I make every effort to snap out of it. I find myself trying to justify my actions or desires and there is sometimes a tug-of-war going on in my brain as to whether I should or should not do something. It is at times like these that I find myself laughing at myself and then saying ‘Oh just get on with it’! One of the main priorities in life is to be happy and laughing is one of the ways we can show it. Life is a bit of a laugh at times isn’t it? Well for some people this doesn’t seem to be the case. I know of a couple of people who never seem to smile. It’s as if they have the problems of the world on their shoulders and some people I know just don’t know how to let their hair down and have a good laugh. Such a shame really. For myself I will continue to laugh and keep a smile on my face.

Shirley Anne

Posted in Celebration, Enjoyment, Fun, Happiness, Philosophy | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Where’s my axe?

Posted by Shirley Anne on September 11, 2011

Agree To Disagree

Image by Fairy Heart ♥ via Flickr

I’ve never been a person who likes to blow her own trumpet unless I am joking with family or friends. I have never seen the need to argue too much about my corner of the world, my life, my problems, my transition or anything else. Some people have a passion, an urge to make a loud noise to put over their views. I have no axe to grind, I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Neither do I need to justify who I am. In regard to my status, my beliefs or anything about me, in that respect, again I have nothing to shout about. I can understand why some folk are militant when it comes down to the rights of an individual in Society for instance but there are many ways to slice a cake and being militant is only one of those ways and not always the best way. Of course it doesn’t necessarily follow that having a passion for something makes it morally valid or acceptable and folk can shout as loud as they like about an issue but that in itself changes nothing. We are a planet of people of all different backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, attitudes and that in itself becomes a stumbling block to any universal acceptance of one another. There will always be dissidents in this world unless all are united under one banner, even then friction will still exist. Simply put, we have to just agree to disagree, live and let live and get on with our own existence. As mortal beings who generally live less than a century we sometimes waste far too much time rocking the boat. We are here but for a short time, why not enjoy it and live in peace? Why all the hassle? Why all the hatred? Why all the axe grinding? What does it achieve? Some people make a nuisance of themselves and for what reason? They will return from whence they came, they will cease to exist just like the rest of us. Make it known that you have an opinion, like I do on here, but leave it at that. Put down the axe, you’ll only hurt yourself if you don’t!

Shirley Anne

Posted in Behaviour, Community, Happiness, Life, Morality, People, Philosophy, Time, Values, Wisdom | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Happy?

Posted by Shirley Anne on September 6, 2011

The hunter of happiness

Image via Wikipedia

I have a little rubber room
I play in every day,
I’d have a chair to sit on
But they carted it away.
I sit on polystyrene
My bed is made of sponge,
The food I get is wobbly
Just like a cold blancmange.
I used to have some clothing
I used to have some shoes,
They used to come and speak with me
And tell me all the news.
One day I’ll get my freedom
One day they’ll let me free,
Then we can be two nuts together
You and crazy me.

Copyright Shirley Anne 29 Feb 2004

The above poem was written in fun and is one of a few I have here in my poems pages but when I read it recently I got to see the more serious side of being in a condition of mental turmoil, insanity or many other kinds of what are commonly referred to as ‘mental illnesses‘. As healthy well-balanced individuals we moan about life from time to time but generally speaking most of us would say that we are happy. Without knowing the figures though I couldn’t say what percentage of a population are really happy with their lives. That brings me to this question, ‘Are people who have a form of mental incapacity, happy’? I have often wondered about this question. What makes people happy anyway and how much of an influence does a person’s life have over their happiness? Well we could say their financial situation, their home, their job, their relationships, their family, a host of different things perhaps have an influence on happiness but how do these things relate to someone who is mentally ill? Are they aware of their situation, can this have an effect on them? It must be difficult to know whether a person is happy if they have some form of mental incapacity especially if we don’t know what they are thinking. I try not to admit my feelings if I am unhappy, I have that control but some may not be able to do that, they may not even know whether they are unhappy or not.

Shirley Anne

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What makes you laugh?

Posted by Shirley Anne on August 16, 2011

Tommy Cooper

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes the silliest little thing will have me rolling about with laughter. If I’ve seen something funny or heard something that amused me it can make me laugh about it for quite some time, so much so that I am in pain with my stomach tensed. E thinks I am mad and that’s probably true but I cannot help myself. It is a good thing to laugh, it’s even medicinal! Whether laughing for as long as I do sometimes however may not be quite so healthy but it wouldn’t stop me! I was watching a stand-up comedian on the television a day or so back and I found myself laughing almost all the way through his half-hour show. Those who live in the UK will know him as John Bishop, a middle-aged guy from my home town of Liverpool (well I was born there and lived there for 27 years) and now living in Manchester only came into the business a matter of a couple of years ago. To listen to him you’d think he had been in the business all his life. Some of his jokes are a bit crude though which is disappointing. I can’t see why comedians have to be so crude in order to get a laugh. Granted, the things he says are funny but not necessary sometimes. The things that make me laugh are many fold, almost anything can set me off, a joke, a situation, an error on someone’s part, a visual thing like slapstick or someone like the late Tommy Cooper who only had to stand on stage and say nothing to get you to laugh. Why is it that people laugh anyhow? Some people I know seem to be afraid of laughing, it’s as though they are frightened to let themselves go as it were and that is probably true. I have seen folk trying to stifle their laughter as though they were ashamed of laughing. Have you noticed many women hold a hand over their mouths to hide their laughing smile? I often wondered why women do that. Mind you I have done it myself sometimes! If laughing is supposed to increase one’s life’s span I am going to live a couple of hundred years! LOL. So what makes you laugh? Do you laugh readily or does it take a lot to make you giggle? Are you smiling right now as you think about it? Go on, have a laugh!

Shirley Anne

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