Think of those rip roarin' ones like a massage on the inside, kneading those organs. A deep tissue massage on the inside. I like that idea!
First time I knew about beneficial laughter I was in my 20s. I heard of this man named Norman Cousins, and the story I heard was that he was diagnosed with cancer and he cured himself with laughter. I heard he watched The Three Stooges for some of those belly laughs.Well, that is not really what happened. He did not have cancer, but he did have Ankylosing Spondylitis, a rare disease of the connective tissue. And he was given a few months to live.
But, he thought not. Instead of accepting his death sentence, he holed himself up in a hotel room next to the hospital, and he took high doses of Vitamin C (I am sure there was more involved than this Vitamin) and he laughed. In the beginning he was in such excruciating pain that he could not rest let alone sleep. What he found was when he laughed those hard rip roarin' belly laughs for 10 minutes, it gave him 2 hours of pain free sleep. The year was 1964, and within 6 months he was back on his feet. Within two years, he was back to work as the editor of the Saturday Review. His death sentence was commuted and he lived until 1990. That story always stuck with me, and if you want to know the details go to his book, An Anatomy of An Illness.
Why is that? How can a person basically cure himself with laughter?
We know that stress and inflammation have a lot to do with diseases. Laughter, besides massaging your insides, also is good in reducing stress and tensions. Think about it -- don't you feel good, stress free, after a good laugh?Not only that, but it can leave your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after a good laugh.
It boosts your immune system (this helps fight inflammation) and it boosts your energy.
Another benefit is when you laugh with people, it binds people together. People always remember good times and they want more.
If it binds people together, then why can't it cut through conflict? Maybe that is why some people have nervous laughter when they are in a fight. Does it help? I would think it depends on what type of a conflict it is, but taking any serious confrontation a bit lighter may help a bit with the tension.
When two people as a couple laugh together, their happiness increases and that laughter is a form of intimacy. I know that was the way it was with Al and I. Everyday, after I came home from work, we would sit at the kitchen table and play rummy. It was more than a game, it was everything. As I have said before, I am a serious person, and Al would ask me about my day, and I would tell him and we would discuss the personalities of work, then he would start cheating (there would be just the two of us and he would look in my hand or pull the cards from my hand). He would simply be a prankster and he would get me to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. My day was so much better, and I always looked forward to going home and being with him, laughing at the first moments at home. But he could always make me laugh, from the April Fool's Day pranks to making me jump with his plastic spiders to telling me funny stories. He was the best person for me. He made me laugh.
Today, without him around, I love to go to comedy clubs, watch sitcoms on TV, and share a good joke.Here's one for you.
There was this man out on a date with his wife and they were driving home after dinner and a night of dancing. Soon, there is a police car with siren blaring following him. The man pulls over and and the cop gets out of the car, goes to the man, and asks him why he thinks he's getting pulled over. The man says he hasn't a clue. The policeman told him he was doing 50 in a 35 zone. The man says, "no, I was not speeding." The police explains that he had him on radar and then the cop looks at the woman and asks her if she thinks the man was speeding. She responds, "Sir, we have been married for over 25 years, and in those 25 years, I have learned not to question him when he's been drinking."
"The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter" -- Mark Twain
Until next time...laugh and the world will laugh with you...
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