“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can; all of them make me laugh.”
― W.H. Auden

The picture in this post is of my dear friend Tim. I know “dear” sounds kind of “foofy”, but Tim is more than a friend, he is more like a brother to me. This is why when I call him on the phone or when we meet, I greet him as my brother. Tim is one of those people that loves life and always makes you smile. Even when he is struggling or has something serious going on in his own life, he frequently manages to say or do something funny that gets me laughing. He has a remarkable, but subtle ability to find humor in most anything, including the mundane things of life. There are times when I am on the phone with him laughing so hard that my wife Annie, who has no idea about what we are talking about, begins to laugh. She will say, after I get off the phone, she was just laughing because of the sound of my own healthy laughter. This is another reason why I love Tim – because his humor is contagious and when we are in a group, inevitably sooner or later, everyone is laughing. This picture of Tim is from a serve trip we were both on with Tim’s church. We were helping rebuild homes, but in the evening we volunteered in the kitchen to help “cook” meals for the other volunteers. I use the term cook very loosely although we were unmatched in cleaning the dishes. 🙂 The Mother and Daughter team we worked for were the true cooks, but Tim saw a nice photo opportunity that we could send back to our wives to show them how hard we were working in the kitchen….not pictured was our taste testing….needless to say our wives didn’t buy it!  But regardless, one of the big reasons I enjoy these trips is because of the laughs I have with Tim.

So why am I sharing this story with you? Well, I have always thought that laughter is good for the soul, but the saying “laughter is the best medicine” may be truer than you  think. Being with a humorous friend, watching funny movies, a TV show, or reading a funny book, is like getting a dose of needed medicine. Studies show that laughing causes the body to release the same endorphins that many athletes release when they are in the “zone”. Laughter helps you reduce stress, cope with difficult situations, and generally, make you feel more positive. According to an article by the Mayo Clinic (click here for the article), a good laugh has numerous healthy benefits both short and long term including:

• Stress Relief
• Increased Oxygen
• Muscle Relaxation
• Stimulating Circulation
• Easing Pain
• Improving your immune system

And these are just a few of the benefits. So the next time you are feeling down or need some stress relief, try to find a dose of laughter through one of the methods I discussed. If you need a quick start, maybe this will help….I am a huge Everybody Loves Raymond fan and love to catch the re-runs. I can always find a dose of “laughter medicine” on this show and have provided a short clip for your enjoyment below.

How do you relieve stress?  Do you find laughter to be good medicine? Tell me below.