I am persuaded that every time a man smiles, but much more so when he laughs; it adds something to this fragment of life. Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) British writer A neighbour found me watching the cartoon series of Tom & Jerry laughing and enjoying together with my children and other members of my family one Saturday morning, and she asked what was so funny watching silly things on television. I told her that after a week of running around with tension and stress, my blood sugar was on the rise, which is very dangerous to my health- I needed something to calm my nerves and the cartoon series would do the trick, I could sense she was not amused looking at my family and I laughing our hearts out, but then she had no option but to keep quiet and do what had brought her to my house early that morning. Laughter is the best medicine; so what is wrong with laughing? Why aren’t people laughing now days? People are so busy running around like robots, at the end of the day we are so tired and exhausted from work, we get home and immediately go to bed. No one has time anymore to crack out jokes with their family members. You go into a home and you find people with very serious faces that you wish you did not come to that place. Sometimes even at the cracking of jokes some people do not even as much as smile. We have aged with wrinkled faces and grey hair; we look older than our actual ages because of the seriousness we carry all the time. Anyone who knows me from my childhood identifies me with my name –Happy, which was given to me by my maternal uncle. I try as much as possible to live up to my name no matter what circumstance I find myself in. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humour and laughter strengthens one’s immune system, boost the energy, diminish pain, and protects from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use. Laughter is also a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humour lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humour helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss. Humour and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment. Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter and play adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humour is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times. One essential characteristic that helps us laugh is not taking ourselves too seriously. Life brings challenges that can either get the best of you or become playthings for your imagination. When you “become the problem” and take yourself too seriously, it can be hard to think outside the box and find new solutions. But when you play with the problem, you can often transform it into an opportunity for creative learning. Sometimes we go to seek advice from the doctor thinking that we are sick, not knowing at times all we need is just some good laugh to ease out the tension building in our body systems. As laughter, humour, and play become an integrated part of your life, your creativity will flourish and new discoveries for playing with friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and loved ones will occur to you daily. Humour takes you to a higher place where you can view the world from a more relaxed, positive, creative, joyful, and balanced perspective. Ends
