My friend Emily and I currently are into
exploring natural health methods, so we subscribe to several different
newsletters from holistic physicians, and then we enjoy comparing notes.
One of the newsletters I recently received mentioned that laughter truly is great medicine because it decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells, oxygen levels and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving resistance to disease. It also triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals.
I remember, many years ago, reading a similar article written by a Dr. Weil, who stated that the average child laughs approximately 400 times a day, while the average adult laughs only 25. He recommended that adults also should try to laugh 400 times daily to improve their immune systems and promote better health. To me, it sounded like a fun way to get healthier.
But when I read the article to my husband,
he failed to share my enthusiasm.
“If I laughed 400 times a day,” he said,
“I’d be fired from my job. Everyone would think I’d either been nipping from a
flask hidden in my desk drawer or smoking something in the men’s room.”
“Well, I think we at least should give it a
try,” I said. “It certainly can’t hurt.”
We soon learned that laughing 400 times a
day was no easy task. We even made a contest of it, telling jokes and funny
stories to each other. Then, when one of us laughed, the other would say,
“That’s 22! Only 378 more to go!”
But alas, my biggest one-day laugh total
turned out to be only 55. And even that many made my stomach hurt.
Not only that, we weren’t even sure what constituted a full laugh. Were we supposed to count each “ha” separately? Or was one laugh considered to be from the first “ha” to the last one in a cluster?
Needless to say, no matter how we counted
them, we still never even came close to reaching the daily laugh requirement.
But recently, mainly because I’ve been
suffering from a case of the winter blues already, I decided to give the
laughter thing another try. I watched a full night of programs on Comedy
Central. Then I read jokes on humorous websites. A few of them gave me a
chuckle or two, but they weren’t nearly strong enough to increase my oxygen
level.
For example, these are some of the jokes:
· Camping: Where
you spend a small fortune to live like a homeless person.
· “I’m doing great on my diet…currently on day 12
without chocolate. I think I just lost hearing in my left eye.”
· “If you see me talking to
myself, just move along. I’m self-employed and am holding a staff meeting.”
· “My new SUV has a button
that says ‘rear wiper.’ I’m afraid to press it.”
· What’s the last thing that
goes through a bug’s mind when it hits a windshield? Its butt!
· “Did you adopt your
dog?” “No, I’m his biological mother.”
So after two full
days, I’m disappointed to say I’ve counted only about 48 bona-fide laughs.
Personally, I think those kids who laugh 400 times a day must be eating way too much sugar.
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Sally Breslin is an award-winning syndicated columnist who has written regularly for newspapers and magazines all of her adult life. She is the author of several novels in a variety of genres, from humor and romance to science-fiction. Contact her at: sillysally@att.net
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