Laugh Anyway

Wisdom Nuggets: "No matter what your heartache may be, laughing helps you forget it for a few seconds."
                                                                                                   - Red Skelton

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Research has shown that the health benefits of laughter are far-reaching. Bill Cosby said "Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it."

1. When you make fun of yourself, you disarm those who would make fun of you and defuse possible confrontations.
2. Laughter relieves tension, stress, anger, irritation, grief, and depression. Similar to crying, laughter lowers emotional barriers, allowing the release of pent-up emotions. After a hearty session of laughter, you experience a sense of true well-being.
3. Medical researchers have found that laughter boosts the immune system.
4. Laughter reduces pain by releasing endorphins that are more powerful than equivalent amounts of morphine.
5. Humor helps merge the 2 hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere is used to interpret the verbal content of a joke. The right hemisphere interprets whether it is funny or not.
6. Laughter adds spice to life. Laughter is to life what rain is to the earth.
7. When you develop your sense of humor, you become more productive, communicate better, and tend to be a better team player.
8. Laughter provides the balance we need to get through the many hurdles of life.
9. Laughter is another form of exercise - According to Dr. James Walsh, "it massages all the organs of the body"
10. Laughter/humor helps you to rise to any challenge and handle the unexpected with ease.

Many adults avoid doing fun things because of what I'll like to call "FOWOT", fear of what others think! The bad news is we let this fear control a chunk of our lives and yet the truth is that no one else is ever thinking about us. They are too busy worrying about what WE are thinking about them - how ironic?

Alan Alda says "When people are laughing, they're generally not killing one another" and Red Skelton concludes, "No matter what your heartache may be, laughing helps you forget it for a few seconds" and its usually a great feeling.

Seriously? People Don't Laugh?

"A day without laughter is a day wasted" - Charlie Chaplin

Wisdom Nugget: "Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might because there's no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave, which is where you are headed"

Joy
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As a young child growing up one of the most beautiful things I appreciated about living was "Laughter". I just loved to watch people laugh hilariously from the heart. For me it made life so beautiful. But as I grew older I noticed that lesser and lesser people laughed. Unfortunately in today's society, as with happiness in general, we seem to have forgotten how to laugh.
Dr. Michael Titze, a German psychologist tells us that,  in the 1950's people used to laugh 18 minutes a day, but today we laugh not more than 6 minutes a day, despite the huge rise in the standard of living Children can laugh up to 300-400 times a day, but when we grow up to be adults this frequency comes down to less than 15 times a day, if at all.

So why has laughter declined? Here are a few answers.  First there's the stress of living in a fast world, which is increasingly dominated by anxiety and fears. Telecommunications have made bad news instantly accessible to millions, thus accentuating the anxiety and fear. People are working long hours, under pressure to move fast. Transport is congested. Cities are crowded. Divorce and family break-ups are high. So negative stress levels are constantly on the increase. Moreover, many people live in the past, feeling guilty or resentful whilst others worry about the future. Often the cause of perceived difficulties is attributed to something or someone else. So we don't take true responsibility and find it hard to live in the moment - which of course is where laughter occurs.

During a trial, in a small Missouri town, the local prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand. The witness was a proper well-dressed elderly lady, the grandmother type, well spoken, and poised. She was sworn in, asked if she would tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, on the Bible, so help her God.

The prosecuting attorney approached the woman and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?" She responded, "Why, yes I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, cheat on your wife, manipulate people and talk badly about them behind their backs. You think you're a rising big shot when you haven't the sense to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper-pushing shyster. Yes, I know you quite well."
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Why, yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, has a bad drinking problem. The man can't build or keep a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. Yes, I know him."
The defense attorney almost fainted. Laughter mixed with gasps, thundered throughout the courtroom and the audience was on the verge of chaos. At this point, the judge brought the courtroom to silence, called both counselors to the bench, and in a very quiet voice said, "If either of you morons asks her if she knows me, you're going to jail."

If you are laughing, Laugh out loud my dear. Many people envy you that you can. Besides our wisdom nugget says that when you finally die, there will be plenty of time to keep a straight face void of any emotions in the quiet and lonely confines of your own space, uninterrupted by any intruders, six feet beneath the earth. Now that you can, laugh with all your heart!!!