Monday, September 19, 2005

Have a Good Laugh at Life




PEOPLE who make others laugh are always welcome at any household or party. Laughing is one of the most natural human reactions. It is spontaneous, contagious and beneficial to one physiological system.
Professional comedians who are amazingly good earn millions a year. Some of them have teams of writers and researchers working for them, doing nothing but come up with jokes. The subjects for laughter can be anything but sometimes they tend to go overboard with presidents and entertainters. That's when it's no longer funny because it comes rude and impolite.
Doctors have discovered, in recent decades, that laughter is nature's built-in medicine. Those who can laugh sincerely, laugh well can also keep bacteria and illnesses at bay.
My whole family laughs all the time. Once, a neighbour from another ethnic community invited me over to his house for his daughter's wedding. On that appointed day, my family and I went.
I went up to the proud dad and congratulated him. He looked at me and didn't recognise me (maybe it was because he came over to my house at night and I sometimes looked different at nightfall).
When I pointed that I lived opposite his house, he uttered: "Oh, that house which is constantly filled with laughter." I took that as a great compliment.
People who do not take life that seriously are seldom sick. I am not basing this remark on any iron-clad scientific studies but on a very strong hunch that laughter triggers a feel-good hormone (backed by science) that acts like a balm for the entire body.
I really don't know why some people walk around as if a truck is going to hit them any minute. They sulk all the time. I had a friend who is also an office colleague who worked hard to earn the nickname "the Incredible Sulk". Some of us thought that title was pretty funny but I don't think the intended victim of that remark found it so amusing.
When I was in school, I had a nickname. My classmates called me "the jester." It wasn't a grand title when you say it out loud in my own ethnic dialect, because it simply means "the fool". However, I was too young and innocent to take offence so I merrily carried out.
After a while, my school friends took a liking to me because they always ended up laughing in my company. I guess part of the reason why they liked my company was also because I was beating them at exams - not so funny, eh!!?
The thing I remember most about my school days were the long incessant sessions of laughter with my friends. We were always pulling pranks, either on each other or on the teachers. We were labelled as playful, of course but that's what life was and still is all about.
When I grew up and became an adult who still laughs at every opportunity, I wondered if God is a funny man, too. I was always burdened by the thought that God is an old man with a long while beard and doesn't stand nonsense or is able to crack jokes.
One day I read a book on God and spirituality. One of the passages which struck me was that God is really a funny guy. Apparently, the writer says he asked God about laughter and jokes, and God answered: "Who do you think created all those jokes in TV shows, in songs, in movies and everywhere else?"
I was so happy that I nearly fell off my chair. It is wonderful news that God is a divine prankster himself. Of course, all his jokes were clean and not designed to put others down, unlike those earthly jokes created by mortal beings.
Anyway, I would like to tell the whole world that it's all right to laugh all the time. I rather have an enemy who laughs at himself or at me than a friend who's constantly sad and look sick to the stomach. Who wants to be around such a sourpuss all the time?
Everytime I spot a person who is given to easy laughter, I know I am in good company. People who laugh at the slightest opportunity are like gems. You just love being in their company.
Is it any wonder that the ability to make people laugh is a prerequisite with most women? Women, and that include beautiful and drop-dead gorgeous women, just love men who can make them laugh. They may not fall in love with you but they certainly won't shoo you away and you are always welcome in their company. Isn't that great? What man would like to be in company of other males who looked like they are in the FBI Ten Most Wanted list?
Laugh all the time. Laugh at silly things. Laugh at serious things. It's your natural right.

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