There are a lot of things the world needs right now: world peace, alternative energy solutions, a cure for cancer, and someone to tell Donald Trump about that hairdo. (With that much cash he could buy the hair club for men and donate whatever’s nesting on his dome to the National Aviary Fund). All the aforementioned are noble ideas, genuine needs, and yet, about as likely as Gary Coleman playing power forward for the LA Clippers. Still, there’s one thing that never seems to make the Top Ten list, yet, is immediately available, infinitely renewable, and proven to alleviate suffering.

Laughter.

I read somewhere once that – on average – children laugh four hundred times a day while adults laugh only fifteen times. This is one of those statistics that regularly gets trotted out and flogged like Seabiscuit in such magazines as Reader’s Digest and Morose Shut-In Quarterly. It sounds plausible at first but seems questionable upon closer examination. I have visions of scientists in lab coats madly swatting butterfly nets at giddy giggling children while chasing them around playgrounds and tabulating all the chuckles the little tykes emit. Who are these blissed out cherubs that burst into laughter every thirty seconds? More importantly, who are these stodgy pre-geezers that only manage to squeeze out fifteen measly yuks a day? Besides, what constitutes a ‘laugh’ exactly? Is there some cross-indexed, laughs-to-points ratio chart somewhere I don’t know about? 1 point per giggle, 2 points per chortle, 3 points per guffaw, and 10 points for a full blown milk through the nose rip snorter? What about rib ticklers, gut busters, the laugh-so-hard-my-face hurts, or the incomparable please-no-more-or-I’m-gonna-make-in-my-shorts? While the findings seem somewhat dubious, the point is hard to dispute: as adults, we don’t laugh nearly enough; and any child who laughs four hundred times a day should probably be munching Haldol like Pez.

So where did all the laughter go? What’s the problem? Better yet, what’s the solution? How do we go about reclaiming our glory days of unbridled hilarity?

Well, I’m no scientist but I am considered something of an “expert” in the area of personal growth and wellness (and a certified ‘idgit’ when it comes to home plumbing). I’ve been helping people achieve better, happier lives for the last fifteen years, and I think I have an answer: your sense of humor.

A sense of humor is just like any of your other senses: use it or lose it. Painters have more discerning vision, musicians have more sensitive hearing, chefs have enhanced taste and smell, and bodybuilders can crush walnuts with odd parts of their anatomy.

A sense of humor is one of the most powerful qualities you can possess as a human being. It’s a prescription for laughter, and laughter truly is the “best medicine”, right next to a shot of Jameson in your coffee.

A sense of humor changes everything. It lightens the world, frees us up, alters our outlook, and like a big fat bag of cash, miraculously transforms unbearable situations into something suddenly OK!

Take a gander at some of the little known positive physical side effects of laughter:
·        Endorphins, a body’s natural pain killers, are released during heartfelt laughter.
·        IgA, killer T-cells, and tolerance to stress and pain increase with laughter.
·        ‘Serum Cortisol’, a hormone secreted under stress decreases with laughter.
·        Brainwave activity slows down to a more optimal level.
·        Your heart is strengthened.

People who laugh regularly, look better, feel better, are healthier, live longer, report leading happier lives, are a lot more fun to be around and revel in torpedoing their high school guidance counselor’s admonition, “Nobody likes a wise ass!”

The prescription is simple. Start easy and work your way up. The next time you get upset, realize that you don’t have to believe your thoughts. Really. Ultimately, the only person forcing you to feel the way you’re feeling is you. Take a moment and change that negative pattern into something more empowering by seeing the humorous side of the moment. For example, when you’re about to throw a temper tantrum in traffic, or as we adults prefer to call it, ‘road rage’, ask yourself, “What’s funny about this situation?”

Literally, make fun.

Why not? Being upset won’t make an already lousy situation any better. And if you’re already upset why torture yourself by making yourself feel even worse? If that’s you’re thing, I know a nice lady with a riding crop who works cheap.

So ask yourself, “What’s funny here?” When you’re brain comes back with, “Nothing!”, as it often does the first few times you try, laugh at your brain for being so gullible that it’ll believe anything it thinks. It’ll get the message soon enough. Your brain works much like the search engine Google. Whenever you ask yourself a question, your brain searches its memory database and comes back with an answer. Remember, practice makes perfect. Repetition is the mother of skill. If you repeatedly ask a question your brain will keep coming back with more and more information that supports your question. When it comes to your brain, you get what you ask for. Keep asking for what’s funny and your brain will eventually start serving up the comedy. Guaranteed. Before you know it you’ll be the one in rush hour traffic, smiling and laughing, that everyone else thinks is on drugs. And you are, endorphins!

They say – although I’ve never been exactly sure who “they” are – that being happy or being sad takes the same amount of work. If that’s true, and I believe it is, then why not spend your time wisely by practicing strengthening your sense of humor and enjoying life more. The opportunities for finding the funny in anything in life are truly endless. Because ultimately, what’s funny isn’t “out there”, it’s right between your ears.

Remember, life’s too important to take seriously all the time. So go ahead and laugh. It’s more than just good for you. It’s good for everyone!