Laughter is good medicine for the soul.
That is so true.
Bob Hope once said, "laughter is an instant vacation."
From time to time we need to throw back our heads and laugh from our inner being. Don't sweat the small stuff and everything is small stuff kind of thing.
The old axiom, "Laughter is the best medicine," holds true when it comes to protecting your heart, according to a study conducted by the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Dr. Michael Miller, who conducted the study, says laughter releases chemicals into the blood stream that relax the blood vessels. In addition, hearty laughter reduces blood pressure and heart rate.
Miller, who is the director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University, interviewed 150 patients who had suffered heart troubles and 150 who had not. Each patient was asked questions to measure their response in typical day-to-day situations. The results showed that individuals with heart problems were 40 percent less likely to respond with laughter.
Laughter is a language is everyone understands.
One author writes, "Crystal, our 5-year-old daughter, recently met an Amish girl her age. Within a few minutes they were off, hand-in-hand, to play. I caught glimpses of them chattering and giggling. Even though Sylvia, the Amish girl, spoke only a Pennsylvania Dutch dialect, she and Crystal got along well.
Later I asked Crystal, "Could you understand anything Sylvia said to you?"
"No," she replied.
"But you played so nicely together. How?"
"Oh, Mommy, we understood each other's giggles."
Listen to this poem celebrating laughter by Crystal, our 5-year-old daughter, recently met an Amish girl her age. Within a few minutes they were off, hand-in-hand, to play. I caught glimpses of them chattering and giggling. Even though Sylvia, the Amish girl, spoke only a Pennsylvania Dutch dialect, she and Crystal got along well.
Later I asked Crystal, "Could you understand anything Sylvia said to you?"
"No," she replied.
"But you played so nicely together. How?"
"Oh, Mommy, we understood each other's giggles."
Listen to this poem that celebrates laughter:
"Let's celebrate Easter with the rite of laughter.
Christ died and rose and lives.
Laugh like a woman who holds her first baby.
Our enemy death will soon be destroyed.
Laugh like a man who finds he doesn't have cancer, or he does, but now there's a cure.
Christ opened wide the door of heaven.
Laugh like children at Disneyland's gates.
This world is owned by God, and he'll return to rule.
Laugh like a man who walks away uninjured from a wreck in which his car was totaled.
Laugh as if all the people in the whole world were invited to a picnic and then invite them."
May you have a good laugh today and celebrate life!
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1 comment:
You are so, so right! I tell folks all the time that "If it's not fun, I don't want to do it!" I feel that way about everything! My work, my home, my play, my church, my life! It all has to be fun. Yes, life can be a serious business (and I deal with some serious stuff every day) but you have to be able to lighten up and see the other side of catastrophe. Have you ever listened to a group of soldiers or cops or firefighters as they talk about things they do every day? They talk about dark and dangerous times but they use the funniest "graveyard" humor to do it! Listen in sometimes if you get a chance.
Some people think that being a Christian means being all serious and solemn. Believe me, if that was it, I wouldn't be here! God is fun and wants us to be happy, spreading our (and His) joy among the nations.
For those of you who are parents, think about those first few minutes after birth...remember the joy, remember laughing with the pleasure of the gift you had received. Man, that's the kind of joy you can have every day! God can change your life, and your outlook, and your attitude, in an instant! Tough times require joyful song...crises require laughter...catastrophes require finding the rainbow in the midst of wreckage!
I had a boss once who handed out these little smiley face magnets. On them, it said "PMA." That's all the smiley face said, other than the smile, and you had to know what it meant. I live by proverbs, though today we call them something else, and that one keeps me going sometimes. PMA stands for "Positive Mental Attitude." I get mine from God, who provides me daily (hourly, by the minute) joy for doing His work in this world.
If you want to smile today, lift someone else up! If you want to laugh, give a friend in need a hand! If you want to all out guffaw, bellow, giggle, roar with laughter, etc., be at my house for small group on Tuesday nights...God will be there and He lets us turn it loose! Sometimes, my abdominal muscles hurt the next day from laughing so much.
I'm attaching this saying to my e-mails these days. It says it all:
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. -Rabindranath Tagore, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer, Nobel laureate (1861-1941)
Find the joy in your life today. If you don't have any, ask God for some because He's got a whole world full! God is Good--ALL THE TIME!!!
Love everybody...even those who won't love you back--especially those who won't love you back! Love is the only way to get through to them!!
Jon
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