Laughter is Good For The Soul

In Proverbs 17:22, it says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”

Everyone enjoys a good laugh, but have you ever thought of the benefits it has on your mind, body & spirit?

In my family, humor is our normal.  How boring would it be to spend your entire day at work or home, never finding humor or laughing at anything.  Some people are just too serious for their own good but I believe if they knew the health benefits that came from laughter, they would do it more often.

The following are some silly lists that circulated around the internet many years ago.  I can’t believe I have kept them all these years.

I do not recommend doing some of these, however it is a good example of how you can have fun and enjoy laughter anywhere you go.

(WARNING…SOME MAY BE OFF COLOR 😆 )

Things to do at Walmart 

• Get boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people’s carts when they don’t realize it.

• Set all the alarm clocks to go off at ten-minute intervals throughout the day.
• Walk up to an employee and tell him in an official tone, “I think we’ve got a Code 3 in Housewares,” and see what happens.
• Tune all the radios to a polka station; then turn them all off and turn the volumes to “10.”
• Challenge other customers to duels with tubes of gift-wrap.
• Put M&M’s on layaway.
• Set up a tent in the camping department; tell others you’ll only invite them in if they bring pillows from Bed and Bath.
• When someone asks if you need help, begin to cry and ask, “Why won’t you people just leave me alone?”
• Look right into the security camera, and use it as a mirror while you pick your nose.
• Take up an entire aisle in Toys by setting up a full-scale battle between the GI Joes and the X-Men.
• Ask other customers if they have any Grey Poupon.
• While handling guns in the hunting department, suddenly ask the clerk if he knows where the anti-depressants are.
• Dart around suspiciously while humming the theme from “Mission Impossible.”
• Set up a “Valet Parking” sign in front of the store.
• In the auto department, practice your “Madonna” look with various funnels.
• Hide in the clothing racks and when people browse through, say things, like “pick me! pick me!!”
• When an announcement comes over the loudspeaker, assume the fetal position and scream, “No, no! It’s those voices again!”
• If the store has a food court, buy a soft drink; explain that you don’t get out much, and ask if they can put a little umbrella in it
• Go into the dressing room and yell real loud … “Hey, we’re out of toilet paper in here!”

Having fun with people on the elevator…

• When there’s only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder and then pretend it wasn’t you.
• Push the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.
• Ask if you can push the button for other people, but push the wrong ones.
• Call the Psychic Hotline from your cell phone and ask if they know what floor you’re on.
• Hold the doors open and say you’re waiting for your friend. after a while, let the doors close and say, “Hi Greg. How’s your day been?”
• Drop a pen and wait until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream, “That’s mine!”
• Bring a camera and take pictures of everyone in the elevator.
• Move your desk in to the elevator and whenever someone gets on, ask if they have an appointment.
• Lay down a Twister mat and ask people if they’d like to play.
• Leave a box in the corner, and when someone gets on ask them if they hear something ticking.
• Pretend you are a flight attendant and review emergency procedures and exits with the passengers.
• Ask, “Did you feel that?”
• Stand really close to someone, sniffing them occasionally.
• When the doors close, announce to the others, “It’s okay. Don’t panic, they open up again.”
• Swat at flies that don’t exist.
• Tell people that you can see their aura.
• Call out, “group hug!”, then enforce it.
• Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering “Shut up, all of you, just shut up!”
• Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask, “Got enough air in there?”
• Stand silently and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.
• Stare at another passenger for a while, then announce in horror, “You’re one of THEM!” and back away slowly.
• Wear a puppet on your hand and use it to talk to the other passengers.
• Listen to the elevator walls with your stethoscope.
• Make explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
• Stare, grinning at another passenger for a while, and then Announce, “I have new socks on.”

Things To Do In A Public Restroom

• Stick your palm open under the stall wall and ask your neighbor,”May I borrow a highlighter?”
• Say “Uh oh, I knew I shouldn’t put my lips on that.”
• Cheer and clap loudly every time somebody breaks the silence with a bodily function noise
• Say, “Hmmm, I’ve never seen that color before.”
• Drop a marble and say, “Oh shit!! My glass eye!!”
• Say “Damn, this water is cold.”
• Grunt and strain real loud for 30 seconds and then drop a cantaloupe into the toilet bowl from a high place and sigh relaxingly.
• Say, “Now how did that get there?”
• Say, “Humus. Reminds me of humus.”
• Fill up a large flask with Mountain Dew. Squirt it erratically under the stall walls of your neighbors while yelling,”Whoa!” Easy boy!!”
• Say,” Interesting….more sinkers than floaters”
• Using a small squeeze tube, spread peanut butter on a wad of toilet paper and drop under the stall wall of your neighbor. Then say, “Whoops, could you kick that back over here, please?
• Say, “C’mon Mr. Happy! Don’t fall asleep on me!!
• Say, “Boy, that sure looks like a maggot”
• Say, “Damn, I knew that drain hole was a little too small.
• Now what am I gonna do?”
• Play a well known drum cadence over and over again on your butt cheeks.
• Before you unroll toilet paper, conspicuously lay down your “Cross-Dressers Anonymous” newsletter on the floor visible to the adjacent stall.
• Drop a D-cup bra on the floor under the stall wall and sing  ***    “Born Free”

According to a 1988 Health Update published in The New York Times, a group called “Nurses for Laughter” at Oregon Health Sciences University wear buttons that say: “Warning: Humor May Be Hazardous to Your Illness.”

A family practitioner at New Jersey’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Marvin E. Herring, said, “The diaphragm, thorax, abdomen, heart, lungs and even the liver are given a massage during a hearty laugh.” And Dr. William F. Fry of Stanford University said that “laughter stimulates the production of the alertness hormones catecholamines. These hormones in turn cause the release of endorphins in the brain. Endorphins foster a sense of relaxation and well-being and dull the perception of pain.”

More recently, the Humour Foundation reported that a Brazilian health center is treating patients who suffer from depression, stress and diabetes with “laughter therapy.” Patients are encouraged to “laugh out loud together.” This same report claims that laughter therapy cuts health care costs, burns calories, helps arteries, and boosts blood flow.

Over the years, many physical benefits to laughter have been reported by doctors and health care professionals. Here are just a few:

• Decrease in stress hormone levels
• Strengthening of the immune system
• Muscle relaxation
• Pain reduction
• Lowering of blood pressure
• Cardiovascular conditioning
• Natural anti-depressant

So, LIGHTEN UP and find something to laugh about today!  

Laughter is contagious so spread it around.

Make laughter a part of your day!