When was the last time you really laughed? I don’t mean a chuckle – I mean the kind of laugh where you had to hold on to your belly and tears were running down your face. The laugh that is almost embarrassing in public, but hurts so good. I don’t know about you, but some of the best times I have had in my life included that kind of laugh. Laughing is good for us.
I read recently that on the average we laugh between 10 to 20 times per day. We used to laugh more when we were younger. According th Alan and Barbara Pease, in their book “The Definite Book of Body Language, we laugh up to 400 times daily as a toddler. When we were that age, we just walked around and enjoyed the world. As adults, we often worry about stuff we have no control over anyway, so we laugh less.
So what does laughing exactly do? Laughing stimulates the output of your endorphins. These are chemicals that we produce ourselves and are our body’s natural painkillers. Endorphins also boost our immune system, which helps fight off infections.
Haven’t you heard of people who were diagnosed with some horrific disease and they rented every imaginable funny movie they could find? Then, after weeks of laughing, they would go back to their doctor who would shrug his shoulders and declare them healed.
Come to think of it – grumpy people seem to get sick more often (or maybe they just tell you about it more often). Anyway, there seems to be something to it.
So, the next time someone tells you a joke, lean back and enjoy. Take it all in, not just the words. Take in the smile and mannerisms of the person who tells the joke. If you laugh, they will too. I guess they’re right when they say: laughing is truly contagious!