I have an infectious trait. It is called Laughter. Since a young age I’ve always enjoyed making people laugh. I believe laughter is great at forming social bonds and diffusing potentially explosive situations.
Laughter has developed in us for two, reasons. Firstly it acts as coping mechanisms to deal with events that are happing in our life that with the absence of laughter would prove difficult to deal with. Whilst certain things cannot be simply brushed off with a quick trivial laugh, it is acts as a tool that can turn negatives of many situations into positives.
The power of laughter is enormous. It stimulates the release en endorphins in our body, which are our natural painkillers. These instantly make us feel better and induce us into a state of feeling ‘high’. It is hard to conjure the image of someone who laughs regularly with others, or to him or herself and attach such words to their character as negative, depressive, dull, boring, lifeless and generally unhappy. In fact, using such words as upbeat, positive, exciting, lively and happy to describe someone you know who is regularly seen laughing is much more appropriate, and makes much more sense. This is because such traits are a reflection of the person who laughs regularly. An important message can be seen.
A person who laughs frequently is a person who is frequently happy. (or happy people laugh)
Feeling positive about your current situation in life is something that is closely linked to the power of laughter. Conversely such feelings stimulate the desire to laugh more. An upwards spiral of well-being is created. Sustaining this spiral of well-being is easier than creating it, as both processes are perpetuated off of one another.
A brilliant exercise to set you off in the morning, which will make you feel much more positive about the day ahead, and get those endorphins kick started, comprises of the following:
- Look at yourself head on in a mirror, and force your self to laugh. Creating this laughter requires effort. Force a fake laugh, and keep it up till you are laughing for the very purpose of laughing. The first movements may seem the most difficult, but as you your smile widens and a whimper of laughter is heard, it should pick up pace, getting louder and louder as it develops in to a full-blown chuckle. As you laugh, take notice of the person starring back at you who seems to be laughing at the same thing. Use your reflection to stimulate further laughter, until your have been laughing continuously (as loud and full blown as you want) for an entire minute. After this laughing session is over, a wide smile will be plastered across your face, which should remain for some time to come. Do this exercise each morning (even try it while brushing your teeth, just not near anyone!) and you will notice that your outlook becomes more positive, and your ability to laugh more throughout the day increases.
After hearing or seeing something funny in whatever event it may be (i.e. cinema, TV, radio, play etc.)I often find myself looking around to see if my amusement is shared by the rest of the audience. If I am alone in the room watching something funny on television for instance, I will instantly try and beckon someone to share with me, what I find amusing. I suspect I am not alone. This illustrates how laughter is a great tool for bonding, in bringing people together to share a happy fun-filled experience. As a result the application of laughter in a social setting and the impact to those present is immense.
Laughter is powerful. Those who understand it, yield this immeasurable vault of raw power. However its use for causing emotional destruction must be recognized. As with all powers there is a fine line between using it for ‘good’ and for ‘bad’ purposes. Ridiculing someone in front of others may be deemed acceptable once or twice, but it can quickly be turned into a menacing form of bulling. If it unites a group of people against an individual for example, the individual’s world can quickly become unpleasant to say the least. To limit the chances of such a situation arising, always aim to laugh with others not at others. If in doubt, take on board for a moment another persons perspective and imagine how the situation is perceived by them. Always moving towards the side of caution, so that your responsibility as a human being to maintain the overall well-being of others is maintained.
