Last Sunday I was trying to put on tights. My husband was giving me a hand. It didn’t help that we were both finding it hilarious. When I was recounting this to someone they remarked, ‘better to laugh than cry’.

At lunchtime today Jeremy Vine was talking about the death of comedy. No one, he remarked, chose to watch a comedian performing these days. Has the ability to find things funny become so impossible?

I would argue that when we laugh we live. There is nothing better than a fit of breath- catching, body bent, legs clamped hysterics. Think back, when was the last time you did that?

Let me tell you about my dad. He broke his arm, can’t really see or hear, has been moved from hospital to a nursing home filled with dying people but what can he do? Make himself and everyone by his bedside laugh until they’re crying. Despite everything.

Noticing that you can still laugh even when times are hard is like finding a precious gift. It can be easily shared with everyone around you. I was outside in the rain yesterday and was able to have a happy conversation with a random builder as I passed by. Even if you can’t find it in yourself to laugh, try a smile. You never know, it might turn your day right round, as my favourite author says,

Life is worth living as long as there’s a laugh in it.*

*Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)

So step out into your week with a smile on your face. It might be contagious.