From giggles to rolling-on-the-floor-holding-your-sides, laughter really is good medicine.
This from the Mayo Clinic website of stress relievers: “When it comes to relieving stress, more giggles and guffaws are just what the doctor ordered. Here's why. Whether you're guffawing at a sitcom on TV or quietly giggling at a newspaper cartoon, laughing does you good. Laughter is a great form of stress relief, and that's no joke. A good laugh has great short-term effects. When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body. Laughter can stimulate many organs, activate and relieve your stress response, and soothe tension. It also has long-term effects. Laughter may improve your immune system, relieve pain, increase personal satisfaction, and improve your mood.”
As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so humor is in the ear of the hearer. Some love the Three Stooges and Mel Brooks while others find the deadpan of Joey Bishop and Buster Keaton more guffaw-producing. The important point is to seek and find and experience good things that make one laugh.
See movies that appeal to your funny bone . . . like (for me), The Blues Brothers. Read books that induce smiles and chuckles . . . like (for me), the books of Patrick McManus (start with Never Sniff a Gift Fish). Go to a zoo and watch the chimpanzees play or find someone with a litter of new puppies and let them crawl all over you. Whatever it takes. Charlie Chaplin said: “Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.” Believe it!
Closer:
I was sitting in a bar one day and two really large women came in, talking in an
interesting accent. So I said, “Cool accent, are you two ladies from Ireland?” One of them
snarled at me, “It’s Wales, dumbo!” So I corrected myself, “Oh, right, so are you two
whales from Ireland?” That’s about all I remember.
