Monkey See, Monkey Do

I have been meaning to post my thoughts about laughter ever since I came across an article about it. I previously posted in my other blog about how I seem to laugh along with others even though I don’t really know the whole “joke” because it’s infectious (at least to me it is).

I always thought of it as a way for me not to look, well, stupid if I don’t laugh, though it does play a part. Sometimes just hearing someone laugh makes me want to laugh. Or watching someone laugh makes me laugh. I always thought it was a defense mechanism on my part. I don’t mean to say that I always laugh-sometimes when a joke is said and I missed the punch line, I will frown and ask for a repeat. (Sometimes this makes the person telling me the joke look at me like, “Don’t you get it?”) It’s not that I don’t get the joke; I just didn’t hear all of it. So that’s why I am not laughing. Other times I just pretend to hear it all and laugh. It’s not all that hard to do because I find it easy to laugh.

I believe, as it says in the article, “laugh and the world laughs with you,” is more fact than opinion. Many times I hear the audience laugh on TV (whether real or taped) and I laugh. It’s infectious. It doesn’t matter if I missed something.

I do believe that laughter is therapeutic, too. Just as the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine” implies. It relieves tension. It’s also a good ab workout if you make it a point to laugh often.

It is said that children laugh hundreds of times a day and adults only laugh at least 25 times a day. We need to let go of the worries that plague us. We need to bring out our inner child. I bet it would be a lot healthier for us, too.

I get goofy or just make a lot of puns (sometimes bad puns, but at least I get a chuckle out of it along with some eye-rolling.) My kids would look at each other and say, “Mom’s gone wack-o.” I don’t want them to look back and remember all the serious things about life. I want them to be able to keep laughing. Often.