Recently I heard a bunch of young folks saying they were going to laugh so hard they would become a tree. Have you ever heard that? I never had; and so I asked one of the group near me: what in the world that means?

 "Oh!" she said, "We've started saying that all over the place! We like the way it sounds!"

‘Well, yes,' I said, ‘But what's it mean? It must have some meaning'.

She started to explain; and then others, who'd overheard us talking, joined in to help explain what I'd asked. I've got to say, when all was said and done, nobody seemed to have a clear picture as to what this expression meant.

All they could say was that they liked how it sounded. And it seemed to be fun to say.

I guess there are a lot of idioms we say, and over the years they become so ingrained in our hearts that we really don't know what they mean; but they mean something; and  whatever it is, it fits the way we feel.

I'm sure you say some idioms; and if I asked you to tell me what the words meant you might be hard pressed to explain.

And that is what seemed to happen with this new phrase. I didn't try to explain it… But the more I thought of it, the more I liked it-- and began to think about trees and all the great things they do for us in the world. There really is nothing like them.

But before I go there… I was intrigued with the idea that you'd become a tree after you have laughed so hard; and that's when I thought, ‘Why not tell folks to quit their smoking?', and-then having realized for themselves-after giving them a hint of the tremendous first-rate sense of being they'll get-‘Start laughing hard and keep it up!'

So much that is written about quitting smoking seems to dwell on how hard it is, what you have to give up, all the solemnity you have to deal with when you quit. Yet I thought, ‘That is not really the way it is.'

There is an immense joy when you finally quit. I mean, you'll start to sing bird-like once you have gotten through all the negative talk that goes on in your mind at first. You could actually dance around happily as well—once you find that you don't need nicotine to quell your brain's disharmony.

Yes, you can really be filled with big-time laughter, once you have quit your smoking binge. And you know laughter is contagious for oneself. If you start to laugh heartily (it doesn't have to be over anything much) your laughter will feed on itself until you can really laugh up a giant storm.

…Now as far as becoming a tree-from all that laughter-…Well let's think of a tree. Even better just look at one. Pick a really large tree and just marvel at it. There it stands, day after nightfall and then again the next day and on and so forth. It's probably the noblest thing our eyes are ever cast upon, and rightly so. Instinctively, we must perceive that this huge living thing is there to help us live.

What's healthier than a large tree? What gives so much to things not connected to it? Becoming a tree would be great in a poetic sense. It would ensure that we enforce some calm all around us that would help maintain an environmental health.

How far from our once ill-smoking is that! Between a guy smoking and a large tree, there has got to be a huge gap that does nothing but harm the guy and his whole world.

So consider starting to laugh-when you've quit smoking-so hard you'll become a tree. (And don't worry about meaning!)