By Liz Pollack, MS, ACPEC
Did you know that the average 4-year-old laughs 300 times a day but an average 40-year-old laughs only four? Even if you question that statistic, you can’t deny that children laugh a lot more than adults. They see humor in the strangest things and laugh out loud when they do. Research has shown significant benefits of laughter. Laughter reduces levels of stress hormones; increases health-enhancing hormones (endorphins) and infection-fighting antibodies; and improves blood flow to the heart. These physical changes result in greater relaxation and resistance to disease, as well as improved mood and positive outlook. In fact, when we lighten up, we feel more positive and optimistic, more hopeful and engaged. We’re friendlier, more resourceful, more attractive, and definitely more alive. So, how can you raise your laugh quota? Here are seven ideas that you can start doing immediately.
- Love your laugh: Your laugh is part of your identity and it’s essential to who you are. Don’t worry that folks will think your laugh is loud and obnoxious. Enjoy your laugh.
- Embrace positive laughter: Remember, the richest laugh is at no one’s expense. Don’t make others the butt of a joke. There is humor all around us that is positive and can be shared.
- You don’t have to be funny: There’s a difference between being funny and having a sense of humor. You don’t need to prepare an opening monologue or to invest in a joke book. Just focus on enjoying and sharing laughs, rather than creating them.
- Hang out with people who have a sense of humor: Take note of who makes you laugh and smile, and spend time with them. Let them know how much you enjoy their humor and being around them.
- Know your own sense of humor: Figure out what kind of humor makes you howl. What makes someone else laugh may not tickle your own funny bone. Once you know what you enjoy, find ways to bring more of that into every day.
- Start looking at the work through a lens of humor: Keep a journal of the little things that made you laugh, giggle, or even smile. Use this as a pick-me up guide when you are feeling down.
- Play pretend: Give yourself permission to play. Use your imagination, get down on the floor and play a game, play with children and try to think like they do. You still have that little child inside of you. Let him or her out and enjoy it.
Now consider this, what would you feel like if you laughed like a 4-year-old today? What would we all feel like? What would the world be like if laughter became, once again, our natural state? I leave you with this wonderful quote by Michael Pritchard: “You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.”
Struggling with change? Need some assistance? Everyone does! Contact Liz Pollack, MS, ACPEC, a certified life coach and owner of Leg Up Services. For more information, call 309-370-4492 or visit www.legupservices.com.
Photo credit: Yuri/iStock, Squaredpixels/iStock