“Laughter
is the language of the soul.”
(Pablo Neruda)
“Laughter
is an instant vacation.”
(Milton Berle)
“A day
without laughter is a wasted day.”
(Unknown)
“Laughter
is the closest distance between two people.”
(Victor Borge)
“Embrace
me with laughter.”
(Unknown)
I do not know too many people who don’t
like to laugh . . . I like to laugh. I
like to laugh every day. Laughter makes
me feel good . . . and, I like to feel good.
So, I laugh. Besides, science is
proving that laughter is good for people according its research over the
years. I think it is silly that there
has been millions upon millions paying to research the value and implications
of laughter in the lives of people . . . especially knowing that people already
had a pretty good idea that laughter was beneficial in the long run. But now we have proof, and if science says it
is true then it has to be true . . . sort of like anything one reads on the
Internet . . . that is where I found the information about the benefits of
laughter—on the Internet. If you would
like to consider this research for yourself please go to this link—it’s
got to be true, it is on the Internet.
The first benefit to laughter,
according to the research was . . . more sex.
Actually their title for this was misleading. There is no guarantee that laughter would
lead to more sex . . . not at all. What
it stated was that women like men who have a good sense of humor . . . one of
the most requested things on dating sites . . . because they believe that men
with a sense of humor are more intelligent and thus better providers than those
without a sense of humor. Well, if this
is true, then I have to be one of the sexiest men alive. I have a sense of humor that doesn’t stop . .
. intelligence off the charts . . . and, if that is what women are looking for
then I give Larry the Cable Guy a decent run for the money in the sexiest man
department. Well, maybe not . . . I
might be too intelligent for my own good.
My humor tends to run on the dry side . . . an acquired taste that take
a little intelligence to sometimes comprehend.
When women don’t get the joke it kind of drives down the sexy found in
humor whether or not I am rolling on the floor laughing at my own jokes. I’m not quite sure why they labeled “more sex”
as one of the benefits of laughter . . . but, then again . . . who knows what
goes on behind closed doors!
The second benefit of laughter is that
it makes you happy . . . duh! The
researchers could have saved themselves a couple of hundred thousand if they
had just paid me to tell them what I already knew . . . laughter makes me feel
good. But, no, they had to research
it. What they discovered that laughter
releases endorphins. Endorphins are what
are released by the body when it is exercised and makes people feel good . . .
what they call runner’s high. In fact,
researchers say that a person who laughs a hundred times is getting the same
benefit as someone who exercises strenuously for fifteen minutes. Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a form of
internal jogging.”
I wish they had determined this years
ago when I was an active and addicted runner putting in lots and lots of miles
every day. True, after running I always
felt great . . . but, later, when the muscles started aching and the shin
splints were acting up . . . I would have loved to gotten the same benefit by
just laughing. At my age the odds are
better that I will get my endorphins from laughing than I would ever get
running. If I have to go a few miles I
will hop in the car, put on a Bob Newhart tape, and get my exercise in through
laughter. Easier on the body . . . now,
if they would only get my Fitbit to
record the benefits of laughter I might eventually get that six-pack without having
to buy it down at the grocery store.
The third benefit, and one I am now
eternally grateful to know, is that laughter helps you poop. Laughter balances blood pressure which
improves circulation that improves digestion . . . which leads to better and
easier poop. That is probably why I
enjoy reading the comics from the newspaper while taking the morning
constitutional . . . laughter moves me in more ways than one. Isn’t the bathroom . . . or what we have
christen as the “library” . . . where most people keep all the copies of The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and For Better
or Worse? Laughter moves us in more
ways than we realize, though I do have a difficult time when it comes to the
comic strip Blondie.
Benefit number four is that it boosts
the immune system. Apparently laughter
helps people avoid the common cold by boosting certain chemicals in the body
that boost the immune system. People who
laugh seem to get less sick than those who don’t laugh. In all honesty it has been years since I have
been sick enough to be in bed. I guess
it is all of that laughter over the years . . . I’m probably good for another couple
of years before I have to start getting those flu shots.
And, the fifth and last benefit
researchers shared is that laughter helps to improve infection. Of course this had to do with something
called macrophages that boost the white blood cells that fight viruses and
infections . . . I really didn’t understand it, but I thought the word “macrophages”
sounded funny, so I laughed. Probably
added a couple of minutes to my life span.
Again, I am not sure why all of this
time, energy, and money was used to research something most of already knew . .
. laughter is good for humans. It adds
years to our health. Makes us feel
good. Keeps us healthy. Helps us to poop
with regularity. And, for a few, I
suppose, improves their sex lives. But,
I think that we all knew that already . . . laughter is good for us.
I like to laugh. I like a good joke. I like good physical comedy. I like a good pun. I like slap stick. I like sarcasm. I like comics and cartoons. I don’t care too much for clowns . . . but,
that is a whole other issue. I like to
laugh. It makes me feel good . . . it
makes us all feel good. And, I believe
that laughter is a gift from God that God expects us to embrace and use because
God likes laughter. In my personal
theology as a follower of Jesus and as a minister, I believe that worship has
to have laughter in order to be worship.
I have told every congregation I have ever served that I believe in the
power of laughter and that if we didn’t laugh at least once in worship . . .
well then, we didn’t worship. I think it
is as important to a worship service as Holy Communion, prayer, and taking up
the weekly offering . . . there has to be laughter. So, we laugh . . . each and every Sunday we
laugh. God is happy with our laughter.
I appreciated that science confirmed
what most of us already knew . . . well, except maybe for that part about
pooping and more sex. Laughter is good
for us. Sure they could have saved a lot
of time, effort, and money if they had done some sort of online survey like Survey Monkey or Doodle poll, but then we might have missed the humor in it . . . we
might have missed the opportunity to laugh.
It has been said that “laughter is the best medicine” . . . research
proves it. I like laughter . . . I like
to laugh. That is why love, laughter,
and friendship is always welcome in my home and in my life. By the way . . . have you heard the one about
. . .
