Who doesn't enjoy a good laugh? But, who would have imagined that it was good for your health. Next time you have a nice little laughing session, take a little self-inventory about how you feel. Do you feel happy and healthy? I really believe that laughing is good for your soul, it helps you to not take the hardships of life quite as hard. It is a coping mechanism that our omnipotent Creator has blessed us with. And what a great blessing it is!! But, don't take my word for it. Here are a few quotes by well-respected men who agree:
Humor at its best encourages a broad perspective on life…Recognizing life’s zaniness encourages flexibility and adaptability, rather than rigidity and brittleness.
–Dr. Harvey Mindess
Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who said the living prophets he had known all had a sense of humor, challenged us to “be persons of good works and good will, cultivating a sense of humor that allows for critics.”
“How wonderful it is to see those whose sense of humor includes the capacity to see themselves and their frailties laughingly—not in the chronic, self-deprecating, biting way. Those who can see themselves and their incongruities with smiles (not sarcasm) suggest to the rest of us that they have an inner security, and this encourages the rest of us to take heart in a world in which too many of us are much too serious about ourselves and in which too much of the laughter is nervous laughter.”
Of utmost importance, concluded President Hugh B. Brown, is the genuine nature of our humor:
“Life is really a battle between fear and faith, pessimism and optimism. Fear and pessimism paralyze men with skepticism and futility. One must have a sense of humor to be an optimist in times like theses…But your good humor must be real, not simulated. Let your smiles come from the heart and they will become contagious. You may see men on the street any day whose laugh is only a frozen grin with nothing in it but teeth. Men without humor tend to forget their source, lose sight of their goal, and with no lubrication in their mental crankshafts, they must drip out of the race.”
Dr. George Vaillant—Harvard Medical School
“Humor is one of the truly elegant defenses in the human repertoire. Few would deny that the capacity for humor, like hope, is one of mankind’s most potent antidotes for the woes of Pandora’s box…humor, smiles, and laughter are the very best stress-busters. In The Wellness Book, colleagues Margaret Baim, MS, RN, and comedian Loretta LaRoche, BA, all but recommend that everyone concerned for their health purchase not pills, self-help manuals, or exercise mats, but Groucho Marx glasses. Donning a big nose, bushy mustached, and spiderlike eyebrows, little seems wrong with the world. Or when you count your blessings, when you force yourself to recount joys rather than sorrows, fun rather than gloom, silliness rather than stodginess, your thoughts will settle into delight and your body will respond.
Humor at its best encourages a broad perspective on life…Recognizing life’s zaniness encourages flexibility and adaptability, rather than rigidity and brittleness.
–Dr. Harvey Mindess
Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who said the living prophets he had known all had a sense of humor, challenged us to “be persons of good works and good will, cultivating a sense of humor that allows for critics.”
“How wonderful it is to see those whose sense of humor includes the capacity to see themselves and their frailties laughingly—not in the chronic, self-deprecating, biting way. Those who can see themselves and their incongruities with smiles (not sarcasm) suggest to the rest of us that they have an inner security, and this encourages the rest of us to take heart in a world in which too many of us are much too serious about ourselves and in which too much of the laughter is nervous laughter.”
Of utmost importance, concluded President Hugh B. Brown, is the genuine nature of our humor:
“Life is really a battle between fear and faith, pessimism and optimism. Fear and pessimism paralyze men with skepticism and futility. One must have a sense of humor to be an optimist in times like theses…But your good humor must be real, not simulated. Let your smiles come from the heart and they will become contagious. You may see men on the street any day whose laugh is only a frozen grin with nothing in it but teeth. Men without humor tend to forget their source, lose sight of their goal, and with no lubrication in their mental crankshafts, they must drip out of the race.”
Dr. George Vaillant—Harvard Medical School
“Humor is one of the truly elegant defenses in the human repertoire. Few would deny that the capacity for humor, like hope, is one of mankind’s most potent antidotes for the woes of Pandora’s box…humor, smiles, and laughter are the very best stress-busters. In The Wellness Book, colleagues Margaret Baim, MS, RN, and comedian Loretta LaRoche, BA, all but recommend that everyone concerned for their health purchase not pills, self-help manuals, or exercise mats, but Groucho Marx glasses. Donning a big nose, bushy mustached, and spiderlike eyebrows, little seems wrong with the world. Or when you count your blessings, when you force yourself to recount joys rather than sorrows, fun rather than gloom, silliness rather than stodginess, your thoughts will settle into delight and your body will respond.
I love to laugh! I am glad it does so much for my health!
ReplyDeleteHow 'bout a new Health Science class "Laughing and health"? :)
ReplyDelete