A friend of mine would sometimes start to laugh at nothing in particular and everyone around her began to laugh too. She told us it was good for one's health. A good belly laugh was even better.
Norman Cousins, a political journalist, author, and world peace activist, developed a debilitating disease that rendered him immobile. He was taking 38 aspirins a day to aleviate his execruciating pain, but this caused internal bleeding. He began reading books about his illness and found that extremely high doses of Vitamin C could combat the bleeding in his adrenal glands. He drank orange juice to relieve the inflammation in his body. For his unbearable pain the doctor told him to read humorous books and E.B.White's
Subtreasury of American Humor. He discovered that a mere ten minutes of hearty laughter would provide about two hours of painless sleep.
From other books he had read on the disease he learned that frustration and suppressed rage can cause adrenal exhaustion. Cousins concluded that positive emotions such as love, hope, faith, laughter, and confidence would produce salutary results. Amazingly, after several years of laughter therapy, he was nearly pain-free and able to move his limbs. He lived to the age of 75.
In a recent TedTalk, a comedian said, "If we lose the power to laugh, we lose the power to think." He also believed that humor breaks down rigid positions and enables people to have empathy and forgiveness.
So if laughter is so good for us, why don't we laugh more? It's not so easy to be light-hearted and joyful in a cold, cruel world. We have to deliberately encourage jokes, humor, and comedy. We need more comedians like Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, Bob Newhart, and Imogene Coco. If you have a good joke, share it. If you have a funny story, tell it. If you have neither, just start laughing. It's contagious.
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