Am I happy?

I believe that every one of us should be choosing happiness every day. The question is, how to be happy? One important element in choosing to be happy is laughter. Laughter has a many benefits for our mind and our body. Even if it is a reaction which is regulated by the brain, our body needs laughter as much as our mind does!

We all love someone who can make us laugh. I myself am a laugh junkie. I love to laugh! If you have a sense of humor, don’t be stingy with it, share it. Not only will you feel better but you’ll also find that you will have more friends. Laughter releases endorphins, which suppress pain, and plain old “makes ya feel good.” It boosts our immune system and, as recently discovered, plays a role in healing. Laughter integrates both sides of our brain.

The best way to find laughter is to watch a funny movie, or find a comedian that makes you laugh and rent DVDs of them. Remember the now famous story of how Norman Cousins laughed his way back to health from death’s door? I’m serious! You can read all about it in his book, Anatomy of an Illness.

A sense of humor will help you rise to any challenge, handle the unexpected with ease, and come out of any difficulty with a smile. Humor isn’t just about telling jokes. Humor is the way we view the world. We can be honest about life without taking it quite so seriously. We can laugh at ourselves, at our mistakes and pain.

Louis Kronenberger explains: “Humor simultaneously wounds and heals, indicts and pardons, diminishes and enlarges; it constitutes inner growth at the expense of outer gain, and those who possess and honestly practice it make themselves more through willingness to make themselves less.” The most wasted day is a day in which we have not laughed!

©Christina Florence – September 2010