Laughter is a Survival Tool as it Opens Hearts

By Jeane Manning

It's quite possible to thrive in these times even if you're tackling a formidable task — such as telling the world that clean abundant "free energy" is possible. My friend's story for instance gives a how-to-thrive example.

I'll call her Nora to protect her privacy. A thread of her life story reached its punch line just recently. Thanks to her gift of seeing the hilarious side of whatever life throws at her, she sails through life buoyed by voluminous gut-rolling laughter. With the help of that perpetually available stress-release, she faithfully organized ten New Energy Movement Canada events, pulled off a successful launch for the book Breakthrough Power (see The Ma'at Shop), and has a history of impressive achievements in public service, business and even in organizing birthday parties for major celebrities. The business she ran when I first met her — a chain of flower shops — was the topic of a quarter-page interview in Financial Post. She gets things done.

Despite associating with the rich and famous, my friend is earthy and generally had a belly-laugh at the ready even when we were 25 years younger and she was dating the most influential man in our city. I recall seeing her as literally down to earth; when walking outside her store suddenly she landed hard on her rear end on the icy sidewalk. Her level of awareness even then was such that she immediately owned having created the unexpected fall. "A few minutes ago I carelessly called someone a pain in the butt."

Nora later moved to Vancouver and established a reputation for successfully putting together seminars and promoting speakers. One day she was asked to take on a then-unknown from the Southern hemisphere. She filled a seminar room with paying attendees, then gradually got him booked in other cities. Somewhere along the road he switched away from his Anglo-Saxon name; I won't repeat either name but will instead call him "LeeRal Highsound".

As his fame grew with the exposure to ever larger audiences, the man seemed to be developing habits that disgrace the word "guru". Although married, he seduced Nora's sister, went off into the hills for an extended "consultation" with one of Nora's woman friends and likewise hit on female acquaintances of the event organizer in other cities. His wife didn't accompany him on those tours.

His personal habits of cigar smoking and alcohol drinking were kept from Nora for quite a long time. She would book him into a non-smoking hotel room and when she returned the next day she'd wonder why he switched rooms. Such habits were certainly not displayed to his followers. Since he was promoted as a healer, he forbade Nora to tell anyone that he was seeing a medical doctor for his own health condition, nor that his wife's cancer had returned. Further evidence of imbalance was his bragging about having surreptitiously had intercourse with his wife in a special place that belonged to a guru in India who had declared the space off-limits to sexual activities. Nora was further repelled at LeeRal's criticism campaign against the first person who had brought out to the general public detailed teachings about sacred geometry.

By the time she had lost respect for LeeRal, Nora couldn't withdraw from organizing his appearances until that tour was over. She had gone far out on a limb financially to meet his requests. More importantly, she finishes what she starts.

At the end he not only refused to pay the full amount that he owed Nora, he attempted to justify himself by claiming that she had cheated him. Nora hired an accountant to go over her records and examine every slip of paper, but there were no problems with the bookkeeping. Nevertheless he perpetuated the unjust accusations and blackened her name to his followers.

Afterward she felt besieged by psychic attack but at first didn't realize that she had been slandered and her reputation damaged. That fact revealed itself through a series of shunnings. For instance while she was traveling months later a bevy of new acquaintances became frosty as soon as she innocently mentioned having booked events for LeeRal. "Oh. You're the one…" They turned their backs and she, shocked by the extent of damage done to her, turned her attention elsewhere. She tells me it was a painful time of feeling very vulnerable.

I know that Nora has learned how to move beyond and heal. I saw her handle unjustified verbal attacks on her from two men at a meeting recently, and I admired the grace with which she sat there and listened — head held regally high, facial expression neutral yet present. Afterward I expressed empathy. She explained that in such situations she concentrates on being in her heart and repeatedly sending out the silent message "I love you, thank you."

Recently the memories from her multi-year experience with LeeRal Highsound slammed back into her life unexpectedly. While browsing in Vancouver's Banyen Bookstore, she picked up a journal whose artistic covers and interior graphics she'd always enjoyed. The magazine opened to a page where someone was channeling "Ascended Master…" It named the man we're calling LeeRal Highsound.

Nora managed to leave the bookstore before losing her composure. At home she went on the Internet. A quick name search revealed another name she recognized from those years that now seem so remote. That woman also says she is channeling LeeRal Highsound.

Over the telephone Nora tells me that surprising conclusion to the "LeeRal" saga. There's no anger in her voice, only appreciation of the hilarity of the human drama. We're roaring. All the residual pain from her long-ago experiences has been washed away by the healing power of forgiveness and laughter.

A postscript to the story is that one day this week I learned that Nora had had a painful bone injury and was planning to take a taxi to see a doctor. I figured that was overdoing the Independent Strong Woman bit, and stepped in to be her driver. It turned out to be a ten-hour ordeal for her — getting the runaround in a flawed healthcare system. For me it was a privilege to see firsthand how a person can rise above even the pain of a shattered elbow if their attention is intentionally placed on the lighter side.

Throughout that day and evening of being shuttled from clinic to hospital emergency room to Xrays to CT scan and further crowded waiting rooms, we laughed whenever possible at a series of surreal experiences. And we used the waiting time to dredge up outrageous stories from each of our lives to share; it took Nora's attention away from pain, frustration and worry.

For the most part it was quiet laughter, because we were surrounded by suffering people lying on gurneys or sitting in rows of chairs practically knee-to-knee. It seemed like only a few feet from one fully-occupied row of chairs to the ones facing, in one narrow room after another. Although she had to repeat her story to one after another healthcare professional and tell them firmly that she was in pain, Nora could still joke around. I watched a few harried doctors seem to lower their own tension level when they chuckled at her unexpected teasing. Just a few words is all it took. And surrounding people also smiled and seemed to lighten up.

(Here's a sidelight for readers considering transforming their diets: Evidently Nora's practice of only eating raw foods allowed her body, although in middle age, to work in an optimum manner. Due to a nurse giving her another patient's papers, she was not even prescribed pain-killers that night when she went home to wait for the orthopedic surgery to be scheduled, but she was relatively pain-free as long as nothing jiggled the temporary cast on her arm. She later learned that a healthy body produces endorphins that alleviate pain naturally.)

Recalling the sight of my friend in those comedy-of-errors hospital and health clinic settings — holding her good hand over her mouth to stifle a guffaw or shaking with laughter — I'm again convinced that laughter is the most amazing survival tool.

About Jeane Manning

Jeane Manning Jeane Manning is an author of books about the emerging new energy science and its implications. Her most recent is Breakthrough Power: How Quantum-leap New Energy Inventions Can Transform Our World, co-authored with Joel Garbon of Portland. Jeane lives in Vancouver, Canada. www.breakthroughpower.net or www.jeanemanning.com.

To purchase a copy of "Breakthrough Power" go to: The Ma'at Shop