Laughter is the Best Medicine

There is a great debate about whether or not laughter truly is the best medicine. People who laugh more are reportedly in better health, they sleep better, have lower blood pressure, and are sick less. 

Which is the chicken and which is the egg? Does laughter really make us healthier, or do healthier people simply have more to laugh about? 

It's difficult to disentangle a belly laugh from the personality capable of producing such robustness, so I'm taking the "Just In Case" approach. 

Here's how it works....

The "JUST IN CASE" Approach

1. Suppose that laughter does not make you healthier - you just laugh. 

2. Suppose that you have to be neurologically wired to enjoy humor and laugh - so what. 

3. Suppose that laughter only has the same cardiovascular benefits as a good scream - cool. 

4. Perhaps laughter doesn't make you better - YOU JUST LAUGH. 

5. Perhaps you have to be neurologically wired to enjoy humor and laugh - SO WHAT. 

6. Perhaps laughter only has the same cardiovascular benefits as a good scream - COOL.

Whether laughter, specifically, is good medicine or whether its supposed health effects are simply those of release, the evidence clearly states that: 

1. YOU JUST LAUGH if you want to feel better. 

2. SO WHAT if you weren't wired for it to begin with. 

3. COOL how this works, huh? 

Whether laughter really is the best medicine or not, it has no common side effects other than the soreness associated with smile stretching exercises and an ab workout - and it's free! 

Best of all, it's FUN and you never run out, the well never runs dry, and you can share it with everyone you meet. 

As far as I'm concerned...

I love the happiness I feel inside when I give myself the opportunity to laugh...