Research shows that laughing every day builds your self-esteem and can add up to eight years to your life. Who knew that having a good guffaw was as healthy as eating broccoli?
Actually, this knowledge has been around for quite a while. Remember Norman Cousins, the author of Anatomy of an Illness, who laughed himself well by watching old Three Stooges and Marx Brothers movies?
His experience gave him the confidence he needed to create the study of psycho-immunology, which is about how your thinking affects your health. Since his groundbreaking work, a number of theories have developed around the therapeutic power of laughter and humor and its use in counseling and medicine.
I encourage my clients to use humor when they have difficulty dealing with their kids, as well as when they are intensely looking into and perhaps doubting themselves. It’s truly one of the most underutilized tools we have as human beings. If more people were able to laugh at themselves, sales of antidepressants would drop dramatically, along with divorce and suicide rates.
Having a sense of humor has a strong positive effect on relationships. When a couple develops the aptitude to see the humor in their behaviors, and even theirarguments, their chances of maintaining a successful long-term relationship or life improve dramatically.
When you give someone permission to laugh, you also give him permission to be himself, which is one of the reasons gentle humor can be so therapeutic. We reveal our true emotions only after we feel safe and confident with someone else.
Having the ability to make others laugh is more than a talent; it’s a gift for those who get to experience it.
Being able to laugh at yourself or the world around you is equally as precious. Laughter will get you through some of the darkest nights and help you cope with the most difficult of days. Look at your life and tell me you can’t chuckle at the ironic moments or laugh out loud at some of your self-made bad times.
Sometimes finding things to laugh at and someone to laugh with can be a challenge. You may think you’re really funny, but nobody gets you. At other times, life just doesn’t give you room or reason to feel a little giddy. In these cases, you need to give yourself a break and take yourself to (or rent) a really good comedy.
You can also read something funny or go to a comedy club. Giving yourself a laughter recess will raise your self-confidence, lower your stress level, help you relax, and, at least temporarily, give you time away from your troubles.
Although I believe in a daily dose of yuckin’ it up, at least once a week is mandatory to maintain your sense of self-worth. So, check out the funnies or watch some I Love Lucy reruns. Whatever makes you giggle is just what this doctor is ordering
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