Did you know that laughter is contagious? Would you like to be a carrier or are you already one? A good sense of humor is free to anyone who is willing to accept it. Laughter will keep us younger. We must be able to see the humor in events that other wise might turn into stress. Studies and researchers have discovered that laughter affects the body in many good ways and we don't even realize it. Humor lets you feel in control of your situations and make them seem manageable. It will allow you to release anger, fear, and stress. As you know any of these can do harm to your body over a period of time.

Humor is very important to our mental health. Humor makes us feel good. It will increase our energy and with this we can do things we might not otherwise do. Humor affects our behavior. We may talk more, touch others and even be able to make eye contact with others. Without humor our minds would become stale and this could lead to depression. Having humor helps us to replace depressing emotions with good feelings.

If you practice good humor you will not be feeling depressed, angry, anxious, or resentful. Humor gives us the ability to connect with others. We are programmed to laugh. Humor can help us cope with bad experiences. It can help us to stay focused at difficult times.

When we hit the bumps in life, we can cope by focusing on our humor and our past experiences. You might ask if you can expand your sense of humor and if so how? The first thing you might do is look around and see what absurd and silly activities are around you everyday. Watch children and you will find that they are delighted and amused by just ordinary things.

Expose yourself to funny things, comedy programs, joke books, etc... Hang around with people that are funny and enjoy humor. Remind yourself daily to enjoy yourself and have fun. Avoid things that make you feel sad and unhappy. If you have negative emotions, use laughter as a bulletproof vest. You can reset your emotions with just a little bit of humor.

Research has shown laughter with numerous positive outcomes. There are no known negative side effects to laughter. A little chuckle each day will keep us laughing a little longer. A good laugh can release anger, fear, and stress. All of these can cause harm to the body over a period of time. We need to use the power of smiles and laughter to help heal as well as prevention. Laughter is a good medicine. No matter what adversities we have in our lives we must have room for laughter. If possible we can use our adversities to our advantage in a humorous way.

We know that it is easy to laugh when we feel good. It's even easier to feel good when we laugh. The problem comes if you are angry or hurting. The more laughter you have in your life the less stress you'll have. You may need to actually go on a laughter hunt. Search everything in your life for just a bit of joy.

Read funny articles and books even the comics in the newspaper. You might get a few stares but laugh out loud at a joke you overheard or was told. You might even turn into a clown. Be reasonable but take every opportunity to lighten up and be silly. Like I said be reasonable, whether you are with your family, alone or co-workers, let go.