Do you like laughing? I love laughing.

What's your favorite thing to laugh at?

Humor is truly an infectious thing. One person begins laughing and then others join in. Recently, I've found myself beginning to laugh at how hard other people are laughing. Watching people laugh humors me. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. Laughter can bind people together and creates happiness and intimacy. Doctors say that laughter triggers healthy physical interactions within the body. Humor has the capacity to strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, minimize pain, and protect from the damaging effects of stress. Laughter is the most well-priced medicine there is!

“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”

~ Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.

Laughter makes you feel good. And the good feeling that you get when you laugh remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.

More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh–or even simply a smile–can go a long way toward making you feel better. Just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.

It's difficult to feel anxious, angry or sad when you are laughing. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more. It helps you to see situations in a more realistic and less threatening light, and can help you feel less overwhelmed.

Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born. 

What I'm learning right now is to laugh at myself and take myself less seriously.