Published: July 23, 2008 12:02 am         

Mirth, laughter are good medicines

What makes you laugh? Think about it.

My friend Merry Mary has been on vacation for ten days. During that time I really missed her because we did not have our daily “wake-up call” on the telephone when we both have a hearty laugh. From the time she says “Hello” we are laughing. When she first returned from vacation she said, “This is Mountain Mary,” and I started laughing. Everything we talk about is funny and amusing. We never gossip or talk bad about people. We just catch up on the news and have a good story or joke or just laugh at nothing. Laughter is contagious and good for us.

One of the wonderful things about our exercise class at Senior Life Network is the laughter that goes with our instructions. It may not look like fun on the PEGASYS taping but we have a delightful time. Our leader tells interesting family stories that make the time go faster, so it is joy to exercise and stretch and get into shape. Various members of the class always get a laugh every time they say something. When Ralph is there, he is always humorous, and so is John. Everyone has something to add to the laughter and fun and enjoyment.

As you all know, Jim goes to rehab at Bass Pavilion for his asthma and breathing problems. Everyone there is so fun and caring. No one whines or complains. Everyone is so encouraging and helpful and cheerful. We always feel so much better after seeing everyone and doing our work-out exercises. It is amazing how laughter and happy visiting can cheer a person up.

We read everywhere about laughter being good medicine. I truly believe it. When Jim was so sick, it would have been easy (and understandable) to become depressed and down. But we rented funny movies and watched them on television. Or we pulled out old records of Jonathan Winters and laughed until our stomaches ached. Then we felt all better. We both believe being cheerful and happy and positive gets us through many medical problems.

Jim just recently had a cancerous lesion removed from his face. His dermatologist apologetically told him it would likely leave a large scar. Jim just laughed and said, “What’s one more scar?” What a positive attitude. Might as well make the best of it and go on enjoying life.

I was raised in a happy family. We laughed at everything. We found joy in work and play. We sang when we weren’t talking. Our grandparents and parents were all positive, happy people in spite of hard times and daily struggles. What a heritage!

When our family gets together now we laugh a lot. We recall stories of when we were kids and tell of the funny things that happened. Even the tragic things seem to become funny over the years and we begin to see humor in them (or the way the stories are told). We tell about making fudge every time the folks left to go to town on Saturdays. That in itself it not funny, but the way we hid the fudge pans and evidence is funny as we now know it was no surprise to Mother. She had to have known because the house smelled of cooked fudge when she returned, and the sugar canister was empty. She never said a word all those years, and we felt we were getting away with something.

Last weekend our six-month-old great-granddaughter visited. When we all laughed heartily, Sydney laughed out loud too. She had no idea what we were laughing at but she joined right in. Then we all laughed at her laughing and had a delightful time. We hope and pray she grows up to always be happy like she is now. What a joy! Laughter is contagious even from a small child.

Laughter is a great part of life. Humans are the only animals that can laugh, perceive humor and see themselves as ridiculous on occasion. Laughter presupposes personality.

It is a terrible feeling to think people are laughing at us. There is an easy way to correct it. We need to laugh at ourselves first. Then others laugh with us and not at us.

Practical jokes are funny to some people but can easily back-fire and not be fun nor funny. Some jokes are not amusing. If a joke hurts anyone, it is not funny. Jokes at the expense of others lose their humor quickly. Just because an audience is laughing does not mean what is being said is appropriate or truly funny. We need to weigh our words before spitting them out, and think how the other person might feel. We also need to weigh what we laugh at.

Have you ever gotten the giggles, when everything was funny? Those giggles and hysterical laughter are triggered by anything, everything, or nothing, and always at the most serious, inappropriate times. But we just cannot seem to help ourselves. Later when we try to remember or retell what was so terribly funny, we don't find it funny at all. My friend Helen and I can get the giggles at any time over anything or nothing. Tom and Jim try to pretend they don't even know us.

I love to laugh. Laughter is good medicine and can even heal diseases. The ability to laugh and see the funny side of situations is a gift, but can be developed and cultivated. A cheerful, positive, comical attitude is like sunshine on a cloudy day. People who bring that ray of sunshine into others’ lives cannot keep it from themselves. We never get eyestrain from looking at the bright side of life. Happiness adds and multiplies as it is divided with others.

Mealtime is happy time. It aids digestion and just makes the rest of the day go better.

This easy dessert makes any meal a happy occasion.



Chocolate Strawberry Pie

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

1⁄4 cup brown sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

1 (6 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1 egg

1 9-inch graham cracker crust

2 tablespoons butter

whole fresh strawberries.



Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla, mixing until well blended. Blend one-half chocolate pieces (which have been melted) and egg. Pour into crust and bake 35 minutes at 325 degrees. Chill. Combine remaining chocolate pieces and butter and melt, mixing until smooth. Cool. Arrange whole strawberries on top of pie. Drizzle chocolate mixture over strawberries. Chill. Serves eight. Note: if this sounds not sweet enough, use milk chocolate like I usually do.



Send your comments to: Peggy Goodrich, Food For Thought, P.O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702.