Laughter ... The Best Medicine Nowadays it’s antibiotics for every health problem that comes down the pipe…or chemo, or even surgery. Nobody ever thinks of trying something so alternative that it’s become foreign to our way of thinking…laughter! Dr. Norman Cousins is probably the best known laughter therapy promoter in the world, and when he died….many years after he was told he would die from an incurable disease, people seem to have forgotten about what he was trying to do. A good belly laugh solves a lot of problems and can even burn calories, so forget about that rigorous diet and start laughing instead. The fact that laughter improves blood circulation and mood, alleviates pain, stress and other problems, is well known, so why don’t we indulge more often? We seem to become mired in daily cares and woes and forget that we can actually help ourselves by having a good laugh. Maybe that’s why sit-coms were so popular over the past years, but now have been replaced by serious dramas. There aren’t very many comedies around on the big screen either these days. Sharing humor, especially if it’s directed at oneself, is very therapeutic. We know right off the bat, that this type of humor won’t be taken badly by anyone else, and won’t cause dissention or hard feelings because it’s about you, and you, of course, can laugh at yourself. Often this type of “lightness” brings closure and a feeling of being able to move on, because simply verbalizing an embarrassing moment or anecdote brings it down to a brief happening, and not the big issue that may have been stuck in your mind. Laughter, to many people, can be inappropriate…but that is determined by where you are and who you are with. If you’re at an elegant soiree, you won’t laugh out loud at anything humorous that´s mentioned for fear of being ridiculed or snubbed. But, if you’re sitting in a pub with a bunch of friends sharing a beer, the laughs probably flow faster than the brew. Which reminds me, laughter comes more easily when one is drinking because it makes us forget about our problems for a little while, but general overusage of alcoholic beverages brings on depression and a “what’s there to laugh about” mindset. Beware of drinking and laughing. There is no bigger downer to mood and life than alcohol, so don’t depend on laughs at the Pub. Have you ever stopped and thought about the funny people you know? People seem to gravitate towards them. That was one of the most important traits that drew me to my husband. He was sooooo funny. When we first met, he was showing everyone how a Frenchman pulls up his socks….(he’s French) and would proceed to drop his jeans and pull up his socks and then his jeans again. He was the life of every party and we had sore bellies by the time we went home. Admittedly, things quietened down after marriage (which was good) but even today I have to watch for silly little pranks like a pitcher of cold water in the shower that make us laugh (well, him, anyway.) And I do the same things to him…hose him down while I’m watering the flowers….it’s just too irresistible, and we can both laugh. But those things don’t happen that often anymore, so we’re having to look to other forms of laughter. We can’t resist watching the two funniest shows on Canadian TV on Friday nights…and we’ve gotten a cute little puppy which keeps us on our toes laughing more often than not. Children are natural laughers, it turns out. Statistics show that babies first laugh out loud by 9 weeks of age, and once they get going, they laugh on average of 300 times a day. It’s worthwhile to continue to see the world through children’s eyes forever! Remember the guy who never seemed to grow up and was always full of pranks and teasing? Well that’s who we should emulate. For some reason it always seemed to be a boy…which tells us something about girls and their prim and proper attitudes. Time to drop that point of view, ladies. It’s much healthier to play tricks than to pretend that tricks or belly laughs are rude. The British are past masters of many different forms of humor. They seem to know how to turn inuendo into really funny skits, and the double entendre was made for them, I’m sure. They don’t seem to embarrass easily and love to laugh at themselves. Monty Python and gang are prime examples, as are the Two Ronnies from some years ago. There are so many hilarious television shows from England on PBS these days, that I wonder what they will come up with next. They laugh at everyday happenings and can rise above the mundane to see that we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously. Their brand of humor reminds us to be optimistic and look forward to the future…it can’t be all that bad, right? Norman Cousins made a life out of laughter and for years after he was diagnosed with an incurable illness, he would watch the funniest movies and videos to make himself laugh. He actually went into remission for quite a number of years, much to the surprise of the doctors, before he finally succumbed, full of laughter and appreciation, I’m sure, for what he was able to achieve. I can just imagine his funeral…with everyone celebrating his life and his "joie de vivre." So, if you don’t know where to start, check out the funniest sit-coms on TV. The reviews and the top rated shows are indeed those that the majority of people will gravitate to over and over. Sign up for a “joke of the day” on the internet. I look forward to that when I sign in to my e-mail server. The jokes aren’t always as funny as I would like, but they distract me and always make me think of one person who would probably enjoy that type of humor. I don’t care for slapstick humor myself, but my husband was raised on “Abot and Costeloh” (took me a while to figure out who he was talking about… “Abbott and Costello”) and “The Three Stooges.” I prefer subtle humor, seems to belong to the Brits way of life…the type where one has to think for a minute before the sense actually appears…and then we realize that, maybe, we’ve been had. Finally, try to gravitate towards places and events that will generate laughter. Sports activities (forget the soccer and hockey fights, though) like skiing, skating, tobogganing, and almost any outdoor activities brings on the conviviality and laughter. Don’t just sit on your duff and expect to be entertained…entertain, and laughter will naturally follow, as will long life and happiness. Back to the Writing Index