Why do I bother with silly, groan-worthy, nothing blogs on Fridays that focus on things that induce laughter–at least they make me laugh. Because I don’t want to live without it–life needs more than just endurance. I want to look for things that bring a smile, a chuckle, and outright laughter. And it’s always more fun to do this with others.

And Mayo Clinic agrees with me that laughter is good for health.

• Short term, laughter stimulates organ, activates and relieves your stress response, and soothes tension. Does anyone else know people who insert humor in ER visits, arguments, and deeply serious meetings? Does it irritate you, or do you let it do the same things for you that recess did when you were in school?
• Long terms it relieves pain, improves your immune system, increases personal satisfaction, and improves your mood.

If you don’t think you have a sense of humor, don’t worry. Humor can be learned.

• Look for things (cards, faces, songs, jokes) that make you laugh and scatter them throughout your daily spaces.
• Turn your embarrassments into an opportunity to laugh, and you will find that people join in with you instead of at you. This may take some practice. Did you know that there are yoga sessions that use laughter as another way to stretch yourself?
• Find someone who shares your sense of humor. My best friend and I do NOT laugh at the same things, but I laugh at her (expected) reactions to the things I think are funny, and I don’t stop trying. It’s become a game with us.

The Bible agrees:

• A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.  Proverbs 17:22, NLT
• Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” Genesis 21:6
• Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. Psalm 26:2