Laughing
There's something about laughing....
Some of my best and most pleasant memories are of people laughing. I can still hear my dad in the other room watching TV and letting out huge, loud guffaws of laughter. He loved funny shows. My mom did too, and they would watch together and just laugh and laugh at The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, and The Big Bang Theory. I loved hearing it. My dad was a smart, pretty quiet, and shy man, but laughter was a robust and easy outlet.
One of my husband's old roommates was the same. He would watch David Letterman every night, and we could hear him cackling and joyfully laughing for the hour of the showtime. He had a great laugh. It was a passionate and deeply happy sound, and that reaction is stuck in my memory bank—in such a wonderful way!
Right now, I am sitting next to a gentleman on a cross-country flight, and he is watching a movie. I can't hear him laughing, because I am listening to music — but I can see him hunched over with his shoulders shaking up and down. Just seeing that from the corner of my eye is making me happy. I have a huge smile on my face; it is bringing me such joy to be close to his joy. It is reminding me how important it is to laugh—as much as possible.
“Laughter is the best medicine.” I think that is exactly right. I get angry at times these days; really angry, and it feels awful. This big smile now on my face is 180 degrees the opposite of that anger, and it feels a thousand times more beneficial. My husband and I stream some intense shows these days, and I always have to end the evening with a short "happy" show- like reruns of Young Sheldon or LeAnn Morgan specials. I can tell you: It's not good to end the evening being tense, stressed, and upset.
Wouldn't it be great if we could make laughter into a medicine or a treatment? I know that the benefits have been studied. How can we bottle it up to prescribe to all of the people in the world who are depressed, stressed, and living in chronic pain? Maybe scientists are already working on it, but I wish they could hurry. I have met many people in life—and in my 46 years of nursing—who could really benefit from such a treatment.
Do yourself a favor today: Watch a funny show or a good comedy special with a friend or loved one, and just let yourself LOL!!!
Guest post from Ann Walgenbach, RN, FNP, MSN
Ann Walgenbach served as the nurse practitioner at The Stone Clinic, working alongside Dr. Stone to help patients achieve the best outcomes. She saw patients in The Clinic, operated as the first assistant in surgery, and was the medical monitor for outcome studies at The Clinic and the Stone Research Foundation for 28 years.
