Notes

Meir Ezra You Can Laugh about Anything

If you cannot laugh, you are in trouble. Life is not fun for you. You take things too seriously and build stress.

If you cannot laugh, you set a negative example for others. People tend to dislike you. No one wants to help you get ahead.

If you cannot laugh, you may not sleep well. You might need drugs or alcohol to feel good. You probably have health problems.

Fortunately, everyone can laugh under any circumstances.

Health Benefits of Laughter

• Laughter strengthens the Immune System. According to Dr. Lee S. Berk from Loma Linda University, California, USA, laughter improves the quality of your blood.

• Laughter stimulates your circulation. Per Dr. William Fry of , one minute of laughter is equal to 10 minutes on the rowing machine.

• Laughing massages your internal organs. It enhances your organ efficiency, especially with intestines. Experiments also show your blood pressure decreases after 10 minutes of laughter.

• Laughter increases the levels of the natural painkiller called endorphin. In Norman Cousins' book "Anatomy of an Illness," he explains how laughter relieved the intense pain of his spinal disease when no other painkiller would help him.

• Younger appearance. Laughter exercises your facial muscles. When you laugh, your face becomes brighter because your blood supply increases. Laughing people look more attractive.

An effective method to find joy and laughter in life is to make your problems seem MORE serious!

How to Laugh

An effective method to find joy and laughter in life is to make your problems seem MORE serious!

"The mechanism* is to make it more and more and more serious until it becomes utterly and completely ridiculous and the person will explode the whole thing off in laughter." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*mechanism: system or process)

You exaggerate your troubles or expand your complaints to such hilarious levels that you and others end up laughing.

Comics get laughs when they make things extra serious. Remember Saturday Night Live television shows where John Belushi would get so upset that he would turn red, scream with anger and flop back and forth until he fell off his chair? He was so overly serious, the audience would howl with laugher.

You can use the same method to make serious people start laughing.

For example, you go into a bank to cash a check. The bank teller looks at you suspiciously and says, "May I see two forms of identification please?"

You say, "Sure. Here's my driver's license and my credit card."

The bank teller clerk examines your cards without comment. She seems unhappy.

So you pull out more cards and say, "And here's Star Trek Fan Club card, my video rental card and my Yo-Yo Association card."

The teller tries to stay serious, but has to laugh.

As another example, a serious waitress brings your food and says, "Be careful. The plate is very hot."

So you touch the plate, jerk your hand and yell, "OUCH!"

The waitress realizes you are exaggerating and laughs.