Laughter really is some of the best medicine

Henry Ward Beecher once said, “A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs-jolted by every pebble in the road.”

Comedian Bill Cosby is found of saying, “If you can laugh at it, you can survive it.”

Charles Darwin, one of the first to look at laughter from the scientific viewpoint, noted that laughter is innate and a reflex action.

The benefit of humor and happiness were noted as far back as the book of Proverbs in the Bible. “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22.

Most of us realize that laughter is contagious as many have witnessed in observing the behavior of children in groups. The intensity of laughter can vary from a snicker to a deep belly laugh.

Humor can make one’s job easier by increasing productivity, effectiveness, and morale.
Treating co-workers with respect and humor does wonders for teamwork and trust.

Humor can help people change from a “misery loves company” outlook to a “laughter loves company” orientation.

Humor is often identified as a teaching technique for developing a positive learning environment.

Studies on laughter have demonstrated that it can help individuals recover from tragedies and illness. Scientists are studying humor as a means of stress reduction as many individuals in medicine and mental health fields are in agreement that laughter has a definite tension-reducing quality.

Some mental health experts have noted the correlation between optimism in an individual and their having a good sense of humor.

Many accomplished speakers tell a joke at the beginning of their talk. Besides being an ice breaker, scientists feel that laughter produces certain chemicals in the blood stream that have an alerting effect, thus making the audience more responsive to the laughter.

Humor appropriately injected in conflict situations can rapidly defuse tension and shift the focus from anger and destructive communication patterns to less tense and more creative thinking. Humor and laughter is often the flip side of anger and bitterness.

Parents should encourage children to develop a healthy sense of humor and service as a model for this development. Looking at the lighter side of life certainly can help many families through tense and stressful situations.

New technology has produced two interesting areas for humor that were not available in the past. One of these is e-mail jokes which can brighten up a tough day at work or produce a good laugh at the end of the day when people check their e-mail at home.

Another source of humor on the computer is found on the humor web sites.
http://www.ajokeaday.com/

Try to build some humor into your day. It is, in fact, one of nature’s best medicines.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 2002