Laughter

Have a question? Agree, disagree,
with me? Leave me your opinion.

Self-Help Treatment

Laughter is a self-help treatment that
heals mind and body. In times of loss
jobs, economic down-turns and the stress
life brings, laughter sooths. Laughter
stirs-up healthy physical changes that
strengthens the immune system, guards
against stress and elevates energy levels.

Research points-out that the immune system
is stronger after laughter. Specifically,
there are increases in natural cells
and anti-bodies to attack infections after
laughter takes takes control. The natural
cells targets viral infections as well as
some kinds of cancers and tumor cells. The
anti-body IGA (immunoglobulin A) battles
upper respiratory tract infections.

Laughter guards the body against stress.
A joke/laugh drains the stress away and
connects people. Let's look at an example.

The clock's alarm, for some reason,
rang-out twenty minutes later than usual.
The coffee maker refused to function, and
you were late for work. The meeting started,
but you arrived for ten minutes of it.
Everyone has eyes stabbed at you as the
meeting's squeaky door opened.

Stress hormones, for you, are high during
the situation. What should you do?

Smile. Take a deep breath, and attend the
meeting.

Share the incident with co-workers, sometime
during the day, as a joke. The laughter
connects you to others, socializing takes place.

It's a self-help treatment to take yourself
less seriously.
Laugh at incidents that are embarrassing, out
of your control.

Laughter relieves stress, and brings the
mind/body back into balance.

"Your sense of humor is one of the most
powerful tools you have to make certain
that your daily mood and emotional state
support good health." Paul E. McGhee, Ph.
D., pioneer in humor research.

The power of laughter elevates energy
levels. Laughter melts away anger and
sadness. It makes you "feel-great."
Naturally, "feel-great" chemicals are
released into the body.

The body's natural "feel-great" chemicals
are endorphins. They reduce stress, relax
muscles and energy levels are elevated.

Endorphins gives an all-over sense of well
being and, for a short time, stops pain.

The act of laughing takes a mind off of
anger, pain or stress. The focus is on
laughter, and from it comes hope.

Laughter inspires a look for more, better.
Goals are set. Goal setting means hope. It's
a move forward in life.

In life, challenges will befall. Smile.
Work through them. You'll feel better. Yes,
you can.

In closing, the self-help treatment of
laughter brings the mind and body back into
balance. It's fun and free. Simply, believe
in yourself.

Humorous Writing: How Is It Done?

Have a question? Agree, disagree,
with me? Leave me your opinion.

Humor requires creativity,
originality. Repeating old
material is boring, and not
humorous.

A suggestion is to turn old
material upside down, sideways,
to expose new material.

Develop new material by
over-stating it.

Select activities, events,
from life to exaggerate
about.

Aries, a pet rabbit, for
example.

Have you noticed how
rabbits like to bang.

The other day, a guest
visited my humble abode.
I offered celery and dip.

Aries banged on the wall.

We talked. Aries banged.

We moved to the dining room.
She followed, leaned against
the wall, and banged.

Finally, it dawned. Aries
wanted some celery.

Often, people make fun of
the negative aspects of life
too.

The key is to create a funny
image in the minds of readers.
Laughter happens when they
relate to it, or see how
funny it is.

As with other types of
writing, become the sponge.

Take notes of situations,
incidents, you see, hear.

You're at a friend's house,
for instance.

The friend heads toward the
kitchen, but stumbles, slides
forward.

You know he/she is going to
be hurt. You close one
eye.

Instead, the friend spins,
side slaps the wall, but
he/she is all right.

You opened the closed eye,
blinked twice, and wondered
how he/she escaped being
mangled.

How would you tell the
story? Put a new twist
on it. Make it your own.

Allow a trusted friend,
family member, to hear,
see, the finished product.

A critique can be helpful.