When was the last time you laughed so hard that you peed a little in your pants? No, I really want to know. In a world where people ask, “What’s up?” more than “How are you?” and 1 out of every 7 people is depressed, do you think a “Happily Ever Laughter” is overrated?! Why do you think Charlie Chaplin, who lost his father to alcohol abuse and his mother to insanity, would endorse laughter and happiness when his own life was so unfortunate? It’s because if you really want to laugh, you have to learn to take your pain and play with it!
Does the phrase A day without laughter is a day wasted, mean that the hours that we spend in front of the TV binging on horrific news of killings and other inhumane acts is a complete waste of time? Is it having a toll on our health? If you don’t balance it now, will there be drastic health consequences?
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Read on to find out why I think that answer is yes.
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Why am I acting as this pseudo-expert on depression? Well, that’s because I have been depressed and I am in no way embarrassed to admit it. If my article helps one person understand that they are not alone and that it can be dealt with, it will have succeeded. In the beginning, I thought I should write a funny piece that would make the readers laugh, but I eventually decided otherwise. Laughter is serious business! Laughter is actually an answer to our psychological health, keeping a check on feelings of depression. Laughter aids the immune system to activate the cells that help fight viruses. It stops the discharge of stress hormones like cortisol, hence facilitating relaxation. ‘Endorphins’ or the ‘natural painkillers’ are also triggered by a hearty laugh!
Does a ‘laugh’ a day, keep the doctor away? Yes, it does. While some may argue that sadness and depression are different and that laughter cannot cure the latter, I would say that I am talking about the precaution and prevention here rather than the cure. Nipping the ailment in the bud, don’t you think that’s a better approach? ‘Laughter Yoga’ is gaining ground as a sound treatment for preventing depression. Laughter yoga groups from different parts of the world are joining hands to participate in exercises that are a combination of yoga and “forced” laughter. (Look at what your habit of not laughing has brought the world to!) They chant “Ho-Ho-Hah-Hah-Hah!” as they march around. While I do applaud these people for their efforts, I am also concerned that we don’t have a natural reason to be happy about. Why do we have to laugh and clap around without a reason? “Fake it until you can make it.” Okay, let’s make-do and mend ‘til we find our genuine reasons for happiness!
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“The arrival of a good clown into a village does more for its health than 20 asses laden with drugs.” It is no sense of rumor that people who use laughter as a coping mechanism maintain a positive mood. When it comes to the depressed and suicidal elderly population of the world, the ones who recover are the ones who exhibit the humor quotient. When we are worried and stressed out, we encounter a feeling of “mental anarchy.” As we cultivate the habit of laughing, we develop some sense of control that prevents us from the emotion of helplessness. A day without laughter is a day wasted indeed!
Rats laugh when tickled. But we are humans, and can’t go around tickling each other, can we? For us, the decisive trigger is the company of others rather than a joke or a comedy movie: a social laughter is always louder than a solitary one. “Laugh and the whole world laughs with you!” Well, undoubtedly, laughter is infectious.
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Know your comedian. Familiarity plays a fabulous role in inducing glee. Why would we choose Charlie Chaplin quotes when there are million other comedians to look up to? Familiarity, of course. This knowledge is truer when it comes to laughter. People find the same jokes told by a popular comedian funnier than when told by someone unknown. Prejudice is way more human than laughter, it seems!
Fit vs. Wit or both. Laughing increases energy outflow and raises your heart rate up by 20 percent. In words clearly understood by us health freaks: Laughing for 10-15 minutes can burn 10-40 calories! Voilá!
Co(medy)rrelations. Couples who laugh more when debating on a touchy-feely issue feel more intimate and have a greater level of pleasure and gratification towards one another. Laughter is also a recipe for a Golden marriage anniversary, unless you hit the bucket early!
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Guffawesomesome. A ‘sense of humor’ is a pre-requisite in every ‘would-be’ list that a man or a woman conjures up about their potential partner! While men want to be the providers of a joke, women are more than happy to be at the receiving end!
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Well, I am not trying to turn you into a laughing Buddha, though that wouldn’t hurt! Life may seem like a drama in certain moments, but it can be a fun and exciting comedy in the long run if you let it! Nothing is undying in this terrible world, not even our fears and our worries. Thus, a day without laughter is a day wasted, because laughter is the pick-me-up, the respite that ceases the pain!
Happy laughing!
Featured image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License
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