In his book, "The Seat Of The Soul," Gary Zukav asserts that earth is a school of learning and that we (the souls) incarnate physically so that we can come here to learn and grow spiritually. Thusly, everything that happens to us in life happens for a reason. I used to not believe this. I do now.

A man at age 47 woke up in Cardiac Intensive Care Unit after having undergone bypass surgery last year. He came really close to meeting "Grim Reaper."

Before surgery, he was in his cardiologists' office and he even asked out loud, "why is this happening to me?" The doctor responded, "How many McDonalds cheeseburgers have you eaten over course of your life?"

"No more than anyone else," he responded. "Precisely," said doctor. That man is me.

By pass surgery was truly one of best things that ever happened to me. Through that experience I gained a new perspective, appreciation and gratefulness for life that I could not have acquired any other way.

From that experience I learned what my true purpose in life is. Engaging in that purpose gives me great satisfaction and fulfillment.

Life is a gift. Live it, all of it, and learn from it. ====================================== Article by: Steve Pilkington (c) 2002. Steve is a Personal/Professional Development Coach. You can subscribe to his FREE ezine "Create The Life You Are Meant To Live" by sending a blank email to: subscribe@lifecoachpro.net with "subscribe AA" in subject line or visit his website at: http://www.lifecoachpro.net

* Encourage others to share their humor. Listen and appreciate it when they do. When someone sees that you have enjoyed their humorous contribution they will be eager to continue sharing.

* In my full day humor workshops I always ask participants to break up into groups and begin sharing funniest thing that has ever happened to them. The laughter that this simple activity generates is a joy to behold. Try this will your friends sometime.

* Collect cartoons and jokes and put them on display on fridge or bulletin board. Make sure to avoid racist, sexist or filthy humor. The is plenty of good clean humor to go around without resorting to these. Remember that there is a difference between dirty and earthy humor. I personally like earthy humor. I don’t appreciate dirty material.

* Watch comedy movies and television programs as often a possible.

* Use humor to neutralize conflict in your relationships. When things get tense use self deprecating humor to lighten things up. I remember one evening having an argument with my wife, Carol. In heat of moment she said something totally out of character. She said something hurtful. In my surprise I looked at her and said, “ Carol, when you say things like that you stoop to my level.” She started to laugh and so did I. It wasn’t long before things were back to normal.

Good luck on your journey to HA HA Land.

Mike Moore is an international speaker/ writer/ cartoonist on humor and human potential. Visit him at http://www.motivationalplus.com http://www.motivationalplus.com/cartoons.html