Here’s a little joke to make you laugh:
I told the doctor’s receptionist I need an appointment.
“How about 10 tomorrow?” she asked.
“I don’t need that many,” I replied.
• • •
As I was thinking of something to write for my column, I thought about how grim the world tends to be these days, and what we really need are more opportunities to laugh like crazy.
David and I have been watching old reruns of the comedy TV show, “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” Most people just called it “Laugh-In.” It aired in the late 1960s and the early 1970s.
We started watching with the first show, a one-hour pilot from 1968, then continued with the first season. The show ran for six seasons. It was corny, but it made us laugh. Even the political digs made us laugh, unlike the distasteful and disgusting monologues of today’s “comedians.”
I’ve wondered how we lost that real humor, the kind without the profane words, disgusting innuendos, or explicit sexual descriptions. These days, to get a real gut-wrenching laugh, I have to go to the old TV shows and the old movies.
We are drawn to people who make us laugh, whether it is a friend, relative, spouse, a pastor, an author, or a celebrity. We want to be amused. We want something to be uplifting and to make us smile and laugh, for laughter gives our hearts a lift.
My mother loved to laugh, and she would get so tickled at something us kids would do, that she’d be doubled up in laughter. We loved to see that. She would laugh at the dumbest things, and yet it was sort of a trademark of hers. My friend, Jina, who passed away in 2018, was another one who loved to laugh. She had one of those laughs that was loud and high-pitched, but not irritating. This was her trademark, too, and at her memorial service, people talked about “Jina’s laugh.”
Is it inappropriate to laugh during a time of grief or sadness? No. It is important for your heart to be glad and to be lifted, especially during a time of grief. It is also good to find laughter in times of stress and uncertainty. When are worried about something, laughter doesn’t always come naturally, but in times of stress and times of sickness, we desperately need something that makes us laugh.
I read a book by an editor named Norman Cousins, who was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease in 1964. The doctors said it would take his life within a few months. The disease was caused by stress, and so Mr. Cousins decided to introduce mass doses of humor into his life, watching hours and hours of Three Stooges movies. This “medicine” improved his condition so much that he continued to live and was cured. His book is entitled “Norman Cousins Anatomy of An Illness.”
Many years ago, I was in the hospital for surgery. It required an incision in my abdomen. Anyone who has had abdominal surgery knows that almost every movement requires the use of those abdominal muscles.
I was in my 30s at the time of the surgery, and after the operation, I shared a room with a 65-year-old woman who had just had a hysterectomy. We quickly became friends and talked about the pains we were experiencing, and about our after-operation issues. These are issues most people would not share with others. Our chats made us both laugh hysterically, which was extremely painful, but we could not help it.
At the nurses’ station, they could hear us laughing. One nurse came into our room and asked what all the laughing was about. She told us, “Laughter is the best medicine.”
Well, that did not seem true at the time, but the few days I spent with that new friend was priceless to me, and I really do believe the laughter helped the healing process for both of us.
In all areas of your life, whether it be at work, at home, at church, in your clubs and societies, at parties, or anywhere you may be, make sure you have laughter in your life. Make others laugh if you can, and laugh with others.
Smiles are great. Laughter is better. It really is the best medicine.
Have a great weekend!
— My love to all,
Nancy
• • •
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
— Proverbs 17:22