Benefits of Laughter

Did you know that children laugh ten times more per day than adults do? No wonder Jesus told us to become like little children. Laughter reduces tension, lowers blood pressure, and releases endorphins, those fun little hormones secreted by the brain that kill pain and calm the nerves.

One thing that always makes me laugh is to read about dumb criminals. In fact, my husband bought me a book a few years ago by Leland Gregory entitled The Stupid Crook Book (Andrews McMeel, 2002). Here are a few of my favorites:

“A twenty-four year old man in Texas broke into a residence, stole a TV, and made a clean getaway. He was arrested a few hours later reentering the premises—he’d forgotten to steal the remote control and came back to get it.”

“A man robbed a liquor store in the Roswell area of New Mexico. Although he wore a bag over his head, the police got an excellent description of the perpetrator—the bag was plastic.”

“A man who was pulled over and cited for not carrying a driver’s license submitted to a routine search and was found to be carrying cocaine in his underwear. To absolve himself of any wrongdoing, he claimed that the underwear didn’t belong to him.”

What makes you laugh?  How many times a day do you laugh? If you'd like to add more laughter to each day, check out my book, The Heart of Humor: 60 Helpings of Hilarity to Nourish Your Soul

Need Encouragement and A Few Laughs? Join us on Keeping It Real podcast with Lisa Buske

One Sister’s Journey Keeping It Real Podcast Interview

• Need some encouragement?
• Would you like to hear me stumble over my words?
• How about hearing some great wisdom from Jeanette?
• Isn’t it about time for a good laugh along with some friends enjoying time together?

Check out Beth's and my interview with our writer/podcaster friend, Lisa Buske.

https://anchor.fm/onesistersjourney/embed/episodes/Learn-how-to-overcome-crises-with-authors-Beth-Gormong-and-Jeanette-Levellie-ej08st/a-a335af4

Check out Lisa’s blog by clicking on the link below.

https://www.lisambuske.com/blog/yes-you-can-overcome-crises-with-gods-help

Thank you so much, Lisa, for the interview. I needed those few minutes of laughter, encouragement and connection with a fellow writer and good friend.

Your Favorite Joke

Furry friends always understand

Do you have a favorite joke? Here are two of mine:

A little boy walks up to his teacher's desk, report card in his hand, serious look on his face.
"What's wrong, Jeremy?" says the teacher.
"Well, I don't mean to scare you, teacher, but my daddy says if my grades don't improve, SOMEONE'S going to get a spanking!"


Maggie says to her husband, Tom one morning at breakfast, "Do you know what day this is?"
"Of course I do!" Tom barks, then rushes out the door.
At 10 a.m., Maggie receives a bouquet of long-stemmed roses delivered to her workplace.

photo by divawhispers

At noon, she receives a box of Godiva chocolates.
At 3 p.m, she receives a phone call from Tom, asking her to meet him at their favorite restaurant for supper.
After a remarkable meal at a secluded table, Maggie hugs Tom and says, "Oh, honey, thanks for the flowers, the chocolate, and now the supper! This is the best Groundhog Day I've ever spent!"

Do you have a favorite joke? Please share it. We love to laugh!

Got Pain? Laugh it Away

Wait just a minute. Can you really control pain by laughing?  That seems too simple.

Robin Dunbar, a study researcher at the University of Oxford, and several colleagues set out to determine if the endorphin rush that laughter provides increases our tolerance for pain. They tested study participants for their pain tolerance, exposed them to both control and laughter-inducing tests, and then measured pain levels again.  “Across all tests, the participants' ability to tolerate pain jumped after laughing.”

From an article on justlaughter.com, medical experts in the United States found laughter helped children relax, which had a major impact on how they dealt with and accepted pain. They believe the healing power of humor can reduce pain and stimulate immune function in children with cancer, diabetes, or AIDS and in children receiving organ transplants and bone marrow treatments.

Dr Margaret Stuber, who led the research, said, "We think laughter could be used to help children who are undergoing painful procedures or who suffer from pain-expectation anxiety. In the future, patients watching humorous videos could become a standard component of some medical procedures."

The US study, Rx Laughter, is a collaboration between the entertainment industry, pediatrics, and psychiatry.  They asked 21 children aged eight to fourteen to put their hand into cold water and found the whole group tolerated the temperature longer while watching a funny video. Those who laughed most remembered less of the pain and tests showed their stress levels were lower after laughing.

My friend, Beth, proved this in her own life when giving birth to her first baby (the ultimate test of pain tolerance).  “They wouldn’t let me push yet,” she said, “but the pain was unbearable. Then my husband turned on the TV and found a funny movie. As long as I was laughing, the labor pains didn’t feel half as intense. Miraculously, when the credits at the end of the movie rolled on the screen, the nurse said, “you can push now.”  I later told my husband, “Next time we have a baby, we’re gonna come prepared with the funniest movies we can find, to get us through labor!”

I don’t recommend having a baby to test if laughter increases your tolerance for pain. But it couldn’t hurt to pop in a funny movie or hang out with a goofy friend next time you twist your ankle or stub your toe.

What makes you laugh? What is your favorite funny movie?

P.S. Don't forget to enter the drawing for a free copy of Jan Cline's debut book, A Heart Out of Hiding. Contest ends midnight, Saturday, January 19. Scroll down to post for January 10 for rules, please.

 

 

Laughter: A Novel Invention

In a smelly, damp cave eons ago, someone concocted the thought that God is against laughter, and wants His kids to take everything seriously. That person is dead now, so we can toss out his or her notion of God as a disagreeable deity. Here’s the proof that laughter is the novel invention of God Himself:

1. “Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.’” (Genesis 21:5-6, NIV).

So… God must think it funny to give a baby to a 100-year-old man and his 90-year-old bride. Because this meant the end of Sarah’s shame and the fulfillment of God’s promise to the couple, she laughed right along with the Almighty.

2. “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” (Psalm 2:4, NIV).

This is the Lord’s response to heathen leaders who boast of freeing themselves from the kingship of God.  The Message says, “Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing… amused at their presumption.”

3. “For everything its season, and for every activity under heaven its time: ... a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time for mourning and a time for dancing.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4, NEB).

 

Oh, the splendid balance in the heart of God! His calendar allows for laughter as well as tears, dancing as well as mourning. Now, if I could just convince my husband that square dancing is a divine inspiration…

4. “And now, God, do it again—bring rains to our drought-stricken lives so those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, so those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.” (Psalm 126:4-6, The Message).

 

Do you feel that you life is drought-stricken, that you’ve planted crops of faith, hope, and love in despair? You are not alone. The Psalmist of three thousand years ago felt the same. Yet he dared to ask God to exchange despair for hurrahs, and heavy hearts with laughter. Let’s agree with him today, boldly marching to the throne of grace to ask the Inventor of Laughter to give us a huge dose.

What Makes You Laugh?

 

Did you know that children laugh ten times more per day than adults do? No wonder Jesus told us to become like little children. Laughter reduces tension, lowers blood pressure, and releases endorphins, those fun little hormones secreted by the brain that kill pain and calm the nerves.

One thing that always makes me laugh is to read about dumb criminals. In fact, my husband recently bought me a book by Leland Gregory entitled The Stupid Crook Book (Andrews McMeel, 2002). Here are a few of my favorites:

“A twenty-four year old man in Texas broke into a residence, stole a TV, and made a clean getaway. He was arrested a few hours later reentering the premises—he’d forgotten to steal the remote control and came back to get it.”

“A man robbed a liquor store in the Roswell area of New Mexico. Although he wore a bag over his head, the police got an excellent description of the perpetrator—the bag was plastic.”

“A man who was pulled over and cited for not carrying a driver’s license submitted to a routine search and was found to be carrying cocaine in his underwear. To absolve himself of any wrongdoing, he claimed that the underwear didn’t belong to him.”

What makes you laugh?  How many times a day do you laugh?

I will be offline for until next Monday, September 3, visiting my grandkids in Tulsa, OK. Now, that’s something to laugh about!

And for a fun interview and peek into my book with the chapter "Can Preachers Have Sex on Sunday?" join me at Gail Pallotta's blog...