LAUGH!

cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

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The following words, culled from Charles R. Swindoll’s book Laugh Again: Experience Outrageous Joy (pp. 103-104), are worth pondering on:

Experts tell us that laughter not only makes our serious lives lighter, but laughter also helps control pain in at least four ways: (1) by distracting our attention, (2) by reducing the tension we are living with, (3) by changing our expectations, and (4) by increasing the productiion of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. Laughter, strange as it may seem, turns our minds from our seriousness and pain and actually creates a degree of anesthesia. By diverting our attention from our situation, laughter enables us to take a brief excursion away from the pain.

Sometimes it is not literal pain but a too-serious mind-set. When our world begins to get too serious, we need momentary interruptions of just plain fun. A surprising day off, a long walk in the woods, a movie, an enjoyable evening relaxing with a friend over a bowl of popcorn, a game of racquetball or golf — these diversions can make all the difference in our ability to cope with life’s crushing demands. We need to give ourselves permission to enjoy various moments in life even though all of life is not in perfect order. This takes practice, but it’s worth the effort. It helps break guilt’s strangehold on us.

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Because of the medicinal powers of laughter, Jayred created her humor blog Jolly J!, an online collection of anecdotes, in August 2008.