So why don't we laugh more?

In Proverbs 17:22, it says, "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." (NKJV) I like how the New Living Translation says it even better: "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength."
With the high cost of prescription drugs these days, we can all benefit from some good medicine that's free!
According to a 1988 Health Update published in The New York Times, a group called "Nurses for Laughter" at Oregon Health Sciences University wear buttons that say: "Warning: Humor May Be Hazardous to Your Illness." A family practitioner at New Jersey's School of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Marvin E. Herring, said, "The diaphragm, thorax, abdomen, heart, lungs and even the liver are given a massage during a hearty laugh." And Dr. William F. Fry of Stanford University said that "laughter stimulates the production of the alertness hormones catecholamines. These hormones in turn cause the release of endorphins in the brain. Endorphins foster a sense of relaxation and well-being and dull the perception of pain."

 

So why don't we laugh more?

More recently, the Humour Foundation reported that a Brazilian health center is treating patients who suffer from depression, stress and diabetes with "laughter therapy." Patients are encouraged to "laugh out loud together." This same report claims that laughter therapy cuts health care costs, burns calories, helps arteries, and boosts blood flow. Over the years, many physical benefits to laughter have been reported by doctors and health care professionals. Here are just a few:

• Decrease in stress hormone levels
• Strengthening of the immune system
• Muscle relaxation
• Pain reduction
• Lowering of blood pressure
• Cardiovascular conditioning
• Natural anti-depressant

Don't Take Life Too Seriously
Remember to focus on the lighter side of life. Take time to enjoy your friends, watch a comedy, read the funnies. I'm sure you've heard this before, but life really does go by too quickly to spend it being miserable.
Spend Time with Children
Being around my little nephew is the perfect cure for depression. He's in that stage of rapid discovery and he giggles over every new thing he does and sees. Making him smile is pure contagious joy!
Subscribe to a Joke-a-Day Email List
I'm a terrible joke-teller. I can never remember exactly how it goes, and I always mess up the punch line! But I love to hear a joke and share one with a friend who might be able to tell it better than me.

So why don't we laugh more? Let's get started now ...

Why did the chicken cross the road halfway?
She wanted to lay it on the line. A police recruit was asked during the exam, "What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?"
He said, "Call for backup."
Why don't oysters give to charity?
Because they're shellfish.
Hopefully you're at least smiling by now. So go on—start laughing more!