A Lesson from Kindergarten Students: We Need to Laugh More

Laughter

The benefits from laughter are amazing: laughter strengthens our immune system, helps us heal more quickly, reduces food cravings, stress, anxiety, and anger while providing us with a better night’s sleep. And the more we laugh, the more of these benefits we accrue. The problem is that most adults don’t laugh nearly enough.  Research has shown that the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day while adults average only 17 laughs a day!  That’s one of the reasons kindergarten students seem so happy—they laugh at everything, including themselves! So, what are some things that we can do to make ourselves laugh more?  We can read the comics section of the newspaper, tell someone a joke, watch a funny sitcom, read a joke book, or rent a funny movie. I have a “fun file” where I keep funny cartoons, jokes, and cards. When I need a good laugh, I go to this file and pull something out. My favorite is a birthday card I received from my sister-in-law. It’s a cartoon filled with strange looking characters in a hospital urology department. One of the characters answers the phone and says, “Urology Department, can you hold?” All the characters in the cartoon are laughing hysterically. For some reason, this card really makes me laugh.  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *