LAUGHTER CAN CURE!
He could see the worry, depression
and anger in his life contributed to, and perhaps helped cause, his disease. He
wondered, “If illness can be caused by negativity, can wellness be created by
positivity?”
He decided to make an experiment
of himself. Laughter was one of the most positive activities he knew. He rented
all the funny movies he could find – Keaton, Chaplin, Fields, the Marx
Brothers. (This was before VCRs, so he had to rent the actual films.) He read
funny stories. He asked his friends to call him whenever they said, heard or
did something funny.
He fully recovered from his
illness and lived another twenty happy, healthy and productive years. (His journey
is detailed in his book Anatomy of an Illness. He credits visualization, the
love of his family and friends and laughter for his recovery.
Some people think laughter is a
waste of time. It is a luxury, they say, a frivolity, something to indulge in
only every so often.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Laughter is essential to our equilibrium, to our well-being, to our
aliveness. If we are not well, laughter helps us get well; if we are wel,
laughter helps us stay that way.
Since Cousin’s ground breaking
subjective work, scientific studies have shown that laughter ha a curative
effect on the body, the mind and the emotions.
So, if you like laughter, consider
it sound medical advice to indulge in it as often as you can. If you don’t life
laughter, then take your medicine – laugh away.
Use whatever makes you laugh. – Movies, comedy shows, books, cartoons,
jokes, friends, family, laughter club …
Give yourself permission to laugh –
long and loud – whenever anything that strikes you as funny. The people around you may think you are
strange, but sooner or later they will join in even if they don’t know what you
are laughing about.
Some diseases may be contagious,
but none is as contagious as the cure: LAUGHTER.
No comments:
Post a Comment