Laughter

Laughter

A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally. It actually causes physical changes in your body. Laughter can:

• Stimulate many organs. Laughter helps you take in oxygen-rich air, which stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles. Laughter also increases feel-good chemicals called endorphins that your brain releases.
• Activate and relieve your stress response. A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response. It also can raise and then lower your heart rate and blood pressure. As a result, you feel good and more relaxed.
• Soothe tension. Laughter also can stimulate circulation and aid muscle relaxation. Both can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.

Long-term effects

Laughter isn't just a quick pick-me-up, though. Laughter also may:

• Help your immune system work better. Laughter can lower stress hormones that can weaken the immune system, such as cortisol. Laughter also boosts certain immune cells that fight illness.
• Relieve pain. Laughter may ease pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers. It also shifts your focus away from feeling uncomfortable.
• Increase personal satisfaction. Laughter can make it easier to cope with tough situations. It also helps you connect with other people.
• Boost your mood. Many people have depression, sometimes due to chronic illnesses. Laughter can help lessen your stress, depression and anxiety. It also may make you feel happier. And it also can improve your self-esteem.

We all know that a good laugh makes you feel better. As you can see from the information above, it has major physical and mental benefits. So, why don't we laugh more often? It depends on our personality and what's going on in our life.

Our personality is formed from our DNA and our upbringing. It's the old joke, " Jonny and Sally come home from the movies. They go into the living room and see a pile of shit on the floor. Jonny says, "mom and dad are going to blame me and punish me." Sally says, "this is great. Mom and dad bought us a pony." 

I have friends that love to laugh and I have friends that don't see anything funny in their life. I love to laugh. I grew up with a mother that loved to laugh. Even though my father had a serious side, he told jokes all the time. They were bad jokes, but I laughed because he was laughing.

Sooo, DNA and upbringing have an effect on who sees laughter in life and who doesn't. What's going on in our life also has an effect on our laughter. Physical and mental problems have a major impact. It's hard to laugh if you are in physical pain. It's hard to laugh if you are depressed. It's hard to laugh if you are extremely stressed.

You know that I preach happiness is the forgotten ingredient in life. Doing what it takes to find happiness should be everyone's goal. Positive energy begets positive energy and negative energy begets negative energy so be the source of positive energy and/or hang out with positive people.

It's a lot easier to laugh if you are happy. It's a lot easier to laugh if you are a positive person or hang out with positive people who laugh a lot. Sooo, seek those laughing positive people. Watch shows and read books that make you laugh. 

Everyone sees laughter in different things. Everyone has a different sense of humor. Find your laughter because it's really good for you.