Laughter is the best medicine- who ever said that!!

Laughter is the best medicine- who ever said that. Some might say that laughter is a medicine to hide a hurt, some will say it frees me from sadness, some say it is an exercise to keep happy. Some fake it at social events.

So let me think this through. No one feels like laughing when they lose their spouse or job, no one sees the humour when someone is shown the door or when a relationship fails or when life throws you a bad curve.  Then how can it be a medicine. Such a myth isn’t it? Think about it. When did you last feel like laughing at such misfortunes? If you did laugh then it lasts only for a small window of time till those thoughts come rushing back. Laughter is simply is a means of distracting oneself at that time, that moment and then back to square one….but then there is the flip side to this medicine.  I for one can laugh at anything even myself and that I learnt from my late mom. My Mom never failed to see humour in anything. Walking down to the market with her was a humorous day as she could find something to laugh at. Some might say laughing at someone else’s expense is bad- how rude, but we laugh because mom taught us to laugh at ourselves and to make others laugh. I remember that day when we, sisters and cousin brother were sitting at her 'death' prayers in the fire temple when a young boy came in to pray and our eyes watched this gawky boy as he walked around praying..... and then it happened. Instead of touching each foot of God's photo, he spreads his index and middle finger and places one each at the feet and we burst into laughter and my cousin says “if Mami had been here she would be killing it laughing”.

Laughter is good and happy memories that sometimes burst forth. It is free fun and probably the best way to be de-stress. It is totally contagious and you can never escape that smile.  Laughter will definitely not remove the pain but it will lighten the burden if you let it.  You can’t feel anxious, angry, or sad when you’re laughing because it’s coming from the heart and not forced. People swear by its positive health effects and there are laughter clubs today making it truly the best medicine and I agree that there is a great deal of positivity in that thought.  So while it’s clear that some events are truly sad and not occasions to break into laughter, there are on the other hand, indeed some that deserve a dose of laughter medicine. There will be loads of those who can’t see humour in what you see. Think of those times when you are watching a movie and people around you are laughing hysterically and you are thinking “what’s so funny about that”. And it’s not like you can’t enjoy a good laugh but at that moment it just revolts you. You know, I have faced that myself and analyzed that situation and have realised that most times I don’t laugh in a movie it is because I am not in a mood to or tired, or had a hard day and just not relaxed enough or genuinely just can’t appreciate the humour. It’s just “ME” in that moment.  After all, we are all different anyways and we all laugh at different things, for different reasons or at different situations, don’t we?  So don’t carry that overpowering feeling of sadness or too much of pretend happiness....... after all it your life. Laugh only because you want to, when you want to, however loud you want.  It reminds me of a song from Mary Poppins "I love to laugh" that goes :

I love to laugh

It's getting worse every year

The more I laugh, the more I fill with glee

And the more the glee

The more I'm a merrier me

.......It is plain and simple. Laughter is a medicine for you to use. It is your choice when and where to use it.