lifestyle

When was the last time you really laughed?

When was it?

I’m not asking you when you last thought something was funny.  That is totally different.  I am asking when did you outwardly, physically, audibly and genuinely laugh? 

I hope it was today, but I would be satisfied if it was yesterday.  My fear is that a lot of people go for days, weeks and even months without actually laughing.  For many people, life is way to serious a business to risk by laughing.  They are too focused on getting life “right” to waste time in frivolity.  Either that or they can’t see anything that is worth their effort to laugh.  Their lives have lost humour, the point of their funny bones has been blunted.

Genuine laughter is one of the most beautiful sounds in our world.  It sooths stress and it heals tension.  It covers over aggression and builds rapport.  It communicates when words fail and turns nightmares into play.  How much more so when the sound of laughter is your own.

Laughter is good for our performance in pursuing our goals.  It helps us to stay alert but relaxed.  It breaks down unnecessary and counterproductive tension.  It strengthens bonds of cooperation and camaraderie which are necessary for our progress.  And it does all this in a way that turns hard work into a game.

Laughter is good for our lifestyles.  Laughter promotes relationships in a way that no amount of seriousness, anger, sulking or neutrality can.  Laughter tunes our senses to appreciate our blessings.  Laughter lifts our spirits and helps us believe in our future.

Laughter is good for our social life.  As humans we generally appreciate the company of people who enjoy life.  Spending time with people who laugh, improves our chances of enjoying our own lives.  If we are the people who laugh, then others will appreciate the time they spend with us.

Laughter is good for our health.  Don’t ask me why, but there are a significant number of people out there in medical circles who claim that laughter is good for us.  I am not surprised by this, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if it was all due to the power of suggestion.  Either way, if it works then I will use it.  Laughter is good for my health.

Can we increase our laughter or is that just fake?  Of course there are types of laughter that are artificial, obnoxious, arrogant, annoying and plain brainless.  Apart from these there are usually vast seams of untapped laughter running through our lives.  All we have to do is enjoy ourselves.  It is as simple as that.

There is always something to laugh about.  People everywhere are doing, saying and being funny things.  We are bumping into hilarious situations every hour of every day.  The reason why we don’t see the humour as much as we could, is that we are too busy taking our lives seriously. 

So why not give laughter a go today?  If you bump into something funny, then don’t hold back.  Give it what it deserves.  Open your mouth a little and have a laugh.  If it feels sort of weird and awkward to laugh out loud, then you have just found something else funny to laugh about…so have another laugh.  Pretty soon, you may find that life isn’t so serious after all.  If you are like most people, you will find that your life is surrounded by humour and all it takes is recognising it.

My aim today, in writing this, is to help you to laugh before it gets too serious to change.  If you can’t manage it on your own, then you may have to sign up for laughing classes like they have here in Japan.  I hope not, because these classes are surely just set up so that the people of the world with healthy laughing habits, can have a good hard laugh at the participants. 

Laughter is a natural part of a healthy person.  Take your life seriously, but not at the expense of laughter.

Thanks

Tom