By African American Books Author Denise Turney

Put healthy laughter on your list of life goals. Commit to laughing at least once a day. Looking for reasons to laugh is a great way to exercise creativity. For starters, you could laugh at how you look when you yawn in the morning. Or you could laugh if your hair pops up like Alfalfa’s hair did on Our Gang Comedy.

Time To Be Silly Laughing!

Catch yourself being silly? Greet the experience with a hearty laugh. Nieces, nephews, grandkids and, of course, your kids, offer countless opportunities to laugh each day. Kids are so free! They haven’t learned to put weight on how someone perceives them. So, they say the first thing that pops into their minds. And they do what they want, without regard to how what they do will be received.

A lot of what kids say and do is downright funny. Facial expressions kids make can be hilarious. Can’t count the times I outright laughed at something my son said or did when he was a kid. There are also times when I covered my mouth and turned my back so my son wouldn’t see me about to burst out laughing at something he’d said or did that I didn’t want him to say or do.

So, be careful when laughing at kids and adults. Ensure you’re encouraging good behavior. Also, avoid using laughter to avoid facing tough life situations. All shared, if you’re like me, you probably toss aside way too many chances to enjoy a good laugh.

So Many Reasons To Laugh

Looking for more reasons to laugh? Recall funny things you did when you were a kid. More paths to laughter include:

• Watching a comedy, a movie that cracks you up!
• Reading a funny book
• Dancing to a lighthearted song
• Getting creative and drawing a funny picture
• Attending a comedy show
• Listening to good-hearted jokes

Did you ever crack yourself up, sending yourself into bouts of laughter, the kind of laughing that shakes her whole body? When’s the last time you had a good laugh like that?

Pets and neighborhood animals, including birds, squirrels, and ducks, do funny things too. I’ve laughed watching two small birds try to pester a larger bird until the larger bird flew off a tree limb, electrical wire or housetop. Instant by instant, a myriad of activities, sights and sounds occur that give reason to laugh.

Great Opportunities For Fun

Start taking advantage of those opportunities! Why?

Check out these benefits associated with laughter. How many of these benefits did you already know about? Which ones are new for you?

• Laughing gives the immune system a boost, making it stronger.
• Shifts your focus upwards. After a hearty laugh, did your thoughts shift from paying bills, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, cooking a large meal, completing a work project, etc. – something that you didn’t want to deal with — to a lighter topic? It might seem odd, but laughing has a way of shifting focus upwards, into better places.
• A good laugh boosts your mood. Ever felt like “blah” then started laughing? Even if you didn’t go from feeling deep in the dumps to soaring emotionally, bet you felt better after a good laugh.
• Laughter lowers anxiety. This links to how laughter helps shift focus and works as a mood booster. It may take consistent effort (but light effort). Try it! Next time you catch yourself worrying, start laughing. While laughing, read a funny or positive saying. Do this throughout the day when you catch yourself worrying. See if you can turn “making lightness of life” into a habit.
• Stress reduction comes through laughing. If you’re already in a stressful state, search for lighthearted thoughts, the types of thoughts that cause you to smile and laugh.
• Oxygen in your body loves being treated to laughter. According to Cleveland Clinic, laughing can “bring in heaps of extra oxygen, which decreases your heart rate and stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system.”¹

How Your Body Loves Laughter

More oxygen in the body, especially while you’re laughing, is good for your heart. In addition to increasing blood flow, “laughter can decrease stress hormones, reduce artery inflammation and increase HDL, the “good” cholesterol.”¹

Social connections might expand and strengthen as you laugh more as well. Similar to yawning, laughing is contagious. Once you start laughing, don’t be surprised if other people don’t at least start smiling. Keep laughing and it would be a shock if a few people didn’t start chuckling or laughing too.

When you laugh hard, it attracts attention. Deep down, maybe we want to laugh more. That could explain why we turn and search for who’s laughing and the cause of their laughter. It’s no secret that we love being around people who make us laugh.

Just as you have trained your mind to search for things to criticize, compete over, feel jealous about and worry about, consider training your mind to find healthy, love-based experiences, sights, and sounds, to laugh about. You did it when you were a kid. Certainly, you can do it again and benefit from laughter just as much!

Here’s to a day filled with laughter, appreciation, joy, and peace!

Resources:

4 Health Benefits of Laughing (clevelandclinic.org)