Laugh, Think, Cry

I quoted Jim Valvano in a sarcastic counterpoint to something a close friend recently said to me.

Which led me to Jim Valvano quotes.

Here's one I love:

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

He nailed it.

Life is not about getting shit done. Getting shit done is how we distract ourselves from focusing on what we are feeling about life, which is primarily pain and disappointment. Or, even worse, nothing at all.

Perfect Warren Zevon line: "So I'm gonna hurl myself against the wall, 'cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all." From Ain't That Pretty At All. 

Life is about how you connect with the ones you love and how you connect with yourself. It is all about emotion. It is there that emotions count the most. Because those are the emotions that sustain you; family love and love of self. 

And thinking. You gotta think about your life. About life as a concept. Life will kick you around and knock you down and fuck you up every chance it gets. Life is not your friend.

Thought #1 has got to be about how you can make yourself happy. That trumps every other thought. It is the only thing that matters.

Laugh, think and cry. I cry a hell of a lot more than I laugh, but at least I am feeling something. Intensely.

I don't think enough. That's how I got here. But lately I am experiencing some version of clarity. So......................

If you can boil your life down to laughing, thinking and crying - if those become your priorities - then you are truly living your life. You are feeling it. Not fighting against it.

Jimmy V left behind a lot of "direct to the gut" wisdom.

What a gift, especially considering how bravely he faced down death.

Laugh, think, cry.

Try it.