The Beauty of Laughter!

Laughter is great for your mind body and soul! What makes for a healthy well-rounded life is balance. No matter what we always make room for Love, Joy & Laughter!

The Beauty of Laughter!

Laughter is such a wonderful bravura expression. When it comes from deep within it can help to release any inner tensions. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is activated by laughter and produces endorphins in the brain after responding to a rewarding activity according to modern neurophysiology. Laughter can be medicine for the soul!

Life can get quite serious. But with the Lord in your life there is always hope. There are times when you may not be able to see far down the road. Please do not go into denial... When that is the case just take it day by day! Think about something simple you can do in the moment, right now today, to bring a ray of sunshine your way and share it with someone else. Don’t let a moment or season in time define your entire life. Find something in all of it to make you laugh!

Did you know that when someone is going through or grieving that one of the best things that you can do is allow them to freely express themselves? Sometimes just being there for them is helpful. Let them have a good cry and then wait for an appropriate moment to make them laugh! Tell them a simple funny story or bring to mind an amusing event they experienced in memory of their loved one. If you don’t know one, simply encourage them to share one. Humor lets them release inner tension as well as emotional pain and stress! It can also serve to put them at ease and help them relax!

JOY is a part of the Fruit of the Spirit! There is an overwhelming inner cheerfulness that brings contentment from knowing the Lord. There is true grace, joy and peace in the Lord. How interesting Nehemiah tells us “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the Joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8

Some people are super ticklish and just the thought of being tickled can make them laugh hysterically! This type of laughter can be contagious and uncontrollably infectious. Joy and humor cause laughter! Laughter is a universal language!

Getology is the study of laughter! There is much-documented research going on to study and analyze the validity of laughter! How does it impact one’s mental state?

There is a wonderful humor therapy, laughter therapy as well as laughter meditation. The ability to laugh naturally can lift one from depression. Focusing on a pleasant situation and allowing yourself the freedom to respond. Telling a joke or watching a great comedy show or funny movie is wonderful. It brings joy to the soul. Notice how children roar during a good cartoon as well as adults!

According to the American Cancer Society, laughter has been quite useful throughout history to bring about healing! “Humor has been used in medicine throughout recorded history. One of the earliest mentions of the health benefits of humor is in the book of Proverbs in the Bible. As early as the thirteenth century, some surgeons used humor to distract patients from the pain of surgery. Humor was also widely used and studied by the medical community in the early twentieth century. In more modern times, the most famous story of humor therapy involved Norman Cousins, then editor of the Saturday Review. According to the story, Mr. Cousins cured himself of an unknown illness with a self-invented regimen of laughter and vitamins.”

Sometimes you can laugh so hard that it can bring tears to your eyes! Norman Cousins suffered from arthritis. He encountered much pain. Through love, using megadoses of vitamin C, faith, hope and humor he was able to remarkably improve his condition! He actually watched the Marx Brother old classic films. He actually said, “I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep," he reported. "When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval."

For instance, crying over spilled milk; is a waste! Guess what? You can’t put it back in the glass. Well, let me see you could try… But it really is better if you just pour another one! Well, what if it was your last glass. WELL! Hurry and GO get a paper towel and wipe it up, now squeeze the milk back into your glass! Ha! Ha! Ha! We can not undo what has been done! But we can always TRY AGAIN!

If you really want true happiness and joy in your life consistently spend some time in the presence of the Lord. His joy will sustain you in the many seasons of life. It will bring laughter to your heart. In the Lord you can discover a wonderful rewarding unexplainable joy! It lightens your burdens, gives you hope and enlightens your soul! Laughter brings about a balance. Joy fills your heart with hope. Only GOD can give you His unspeakable joy! Life is a precious "GIFT" from God. Remember "The JOY of the LORD is my strength!" Nehemiah 8.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say again: REJOICE! Let your gentleness be evident to ALL. The LORD is near. DO NOT be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your request to GOD. And the PEACE of GOD, which transcends ALL understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in CHRIST JESUS..." Philippians 4.

How much would laughter cost if we really could bottle it up and then pour it in a glass? It really is marvelously priceless!