One Woman s View: Live better with laughter
Contributing writer
"Laugh and the world laughs with you," wrote Ella Wilcox. You and I both know that is not always true. Instead of laughing with you, sometimes the world laughs at you and/or threatens to commit you to an institution for the insane. I say, "Laugh anyway."
This past week I attended Prairie View's Food for Thought program, "Putting Fun to Work," led by Patty Wooten, a registered nurse and a graduate of clown school. Now that is a winning combination, and Wooten was a very funny woman. Her presentation got me thinking about the importance of laughter in my life and I hope in yours also.
Studies have shown that people are more productive in the workplace if they are having fun. Employers, take note. Some bosses equate having fun with wasting time. Of course, this can be valid if workers are goofing off instead of working. If they are "goofing off" while they are working, they are probably getting more work done than they would if they were silent and super-serious.
I had a stubbornly independent brother who understood this principle. Once he worked for a boss who jumped on some co-workers who were trading wisecracks as they worked saying, "Cut out that nonsense. There are six people waiting to take your job if you can't take it seriously." Although he was not one of the workers being reprimanded, my brother responded with, "If there are six people waiting to take my job, call one of them down here, because I quit." He preferred looking for another job to working in an environment where fun was not tolerated.
If you are coping with problems (and who isn't?), laughter can make them easier to bear. Almost all problems have a funny side, if you look for it. Wooten told of a patient undergoing chemotherapy following a mastectomy, who nourished her spirit (and probably encouraged others) by writing comic poetry.
Two or three years ago, when I was trying to climb out of a very deep pit of despair and depression, my counselor gave me the assignment of keeping a list of special moments. I was astounded by the number I found in each day when I really looked for them instead passing them by with a dead spirit. Of course, not all of these special moments involved laughter, but I felt I was turning a corner one evening when I found myself laughing uproariously at "America's Funniest Home Videos" on television.
Laughter also is good for your physical health. Norman Cousins wrote a book about the healing power of laughter. When doctors told him nothing could be done for his illness, he began "treating" it by watching funny movies and engaging in any activity which could promote laughter. He made a complete recovery. Cousins was somewhat ahead of his time, but medical science now recognizes that laughter stimulates the production of endorphins in the brain. They are naturally occurring substances in your body which give a feeling of well-being and promote healing.
Spreading joy and laughter to others can do wonders for your own happiness, as well as theirs. This past week I wore my "giant leprechaun" outfit almost everywhere I went. Although some observers may have marked me a lunatic, I had a lot of fun and gave others an excuse to laugh, chuckle, or at least smile. At the Food for Thought program one person mistook me for the workshop leader, and Wooten paid me a rare compliment as the crowd was breaking up saying, "I'll bet you're a person who could have fun at a train wreck."
Wooten gave us a handout with tips on how to get more laughter in our lives, and I'll share a few with you. Have a Comedy Fest; rent funny movies and view them with family and friends. Read the comics each day and cut out those which remind you of your own life. ( I already was doing that one, and a number of cartoons adorn my refrigerator.) Find a humor buddy who will call you with funny stories. Add this item to your daily to-do list: Find something humorous, amusing, or hilarious.
Thanks to my outlandish garb and big mouth, I won a few prizes including a book Wooten edited titled "Heart, Humor, and Healing." Wanting to close this column with a quotation from it, I found it very difficult to choose only one. However, I finally settled for a claim from William James: "We don't laugh because we're happy — we're happy because we laugh." Think about it!
