If you cannot laugh, you are in trouble. Life is not fun for you. You take things too seriously and build stress.
If you cannot laugh, you set a negative example for others. People tend to dislike you. No one wants to help you get ahead.
If you cannot laugh, you may not sleep well. You might need drugs or alcohol to feel good. You probably have health problems.
Fortunately, everyone can laugh under any circumstances.
Health Benefits of Laughter
* Laughter strengthens the Immune System. According to Dr. Lee S. Berk from Loma Linda University, California, USA, laughter improves the quality of your blood.
* Laughter stimulates your circulation. Per Dr. William Fry of Stanford University, one minute of laughter is equal to 10 minutes on the rowing machine.
* Laughing massages your internal organs. It enhances your organ efficiency, especially with intestines. Experiments also show your blood pressure decreases after 10 minutes of laughter.
* Laughter increases the levels of the natural painkiller called endorphin. In Norman Cousins’ book “Anatomy of an Illness,” he explains how laughter relieved the intense pain of his spinal disease when no other painkiller would help him.
* Younger appearance. Laughter exercises your facial muscles. When you laugh, your face becomes brighter because your blood supply increases. Laughing people look more attractive.
Some ways to go about it:
- Smile. When you smile, it makes other people feel happy. And in turn, that makes you feel happy. While smiling and laughing are different activities, they are both able to lead to the end of engaging others to feel better and happier. A smiling face evokes happiness and opens the door for a laugh. Most people find it hard not to return a smile, so this is a really great start.
- Think of funny things. Laughter needs to bubble up from somewhere and funny things are your best option. And it’s really important to avoid over-analyzing humor – if you spend too much time asking yourself whether something is funny or not, the moment will be lost and you’ll forget to laugh. After all, Mark Twain once said that“explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog; you learn a lot in the process, but in the end, you kill it.” Instead, stay in the moment, react to funny thoughts and situations and let yourself laugh.
- Think optimistically about your current situation. Even in the toughest of times, it’s possible to find something to laugh about. And what’s really important when you’re aiming to spread laughter is that your optimism can be as infectious as negativity seems to be at times, provided you’re persistent and seek to draw others in to find out what’s worth laughing about too.
- Lighten up! When the others around you see the chips falling down, see yourself finding ways to scoop them all back up again and build something new.
TAKEAWAY: Laugh!