Laughter is Good for Us

Laughter relieves stress.  There is no doubt about it.  I love to read "Pluggers", "Family Circus", and "Off the Mark" in the comic section of the paper everyday.  Then I glance around to see if there are any other cartoons that catch my eye.  My husband and I enjoy watching reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Seinfeld".  We love to laugh.

I just started a page on facebook a couple of days ago called "Be Happy" with posters of inspirations and things.  We need to be optimistic and positive and laugh a lot.  This would dispel many health problems like bad digestion, edginess, headaches, sleeplessness, nervousness, and lack of energy.

Laughter is just good medicine.  It stimulates natural healing in the body.  The average child laughs 200 times a time.  Compare that to the 14 to 17 times an average adult laughs.  That is why I love to host Camp Nana.  The laughter of my grandchildren is contagious.  I learn how to play again, and it is fun!  I just read that every time we laugh, we reduce a stress hormone and increase a human growth hormone known as the "youth hormone" by as much as 87%.

I am a big Obama fan.  I've seen him age a lot in the four years he has been in office.  I'm sure the stress is causing it.  He gets criticized every time he does anything and heaven forbid, he take any time off or vacation or anything.  He is a funny, classy man, though, and I wish he would take some time to just have fun.  He works too hard.  It would reduce his blood pressure and make his immune system stronger.  But, hey, we all need to play more.  We all need to take time to have fun and laugh every day.

Proverbs 17:22 says, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing." Yes, sources say that people who laugh regularly are 40% less likely to have a heart attack than those who don't.  Also people who laugh regularly develop "natural killer" cells that destroy cancer cells.   That's enough to make me want to laugh right now.  I have "Seinfeld" on, and I am enjoying it a lot.  George and Jerry are acting like juveniles mimicking each other and Kramer slides through the door in the most hilarious way.  Then Elaine comes in and acts all excited, jumping up and down, in a weird way.  It is too funny.

Well, we all need to laugh a lot.  It free and it's good for us.  Let me end with a story I just read: "Energizer bunny arrested.  Charged with battery."   LOL

Love and Light,

Patty

See with the Heart, Not the Eyes

A classroom poster read, "Acceptance is seeing with the heart, not the eyes."  So many times we judge people based on our own experiences, not really knowing what has happened to them.  We use our limited perception to interpret their appearance or behavior.  Everyone has a story.  Joel Osteen wrote, "The world is full of people who need to be understood.  We don't know what others are going through.  We don't know the hurt or the pain they've endured.....Give people a little room....When you see people through the eyes of love, eyes of compassion, and eyes of understanding, you won't be nearly so critical."

This reminds me of the story of Mary Groda-Lewis who was dyslexic.  Because no one recognized it, she was illiterate until age 16.  She was very rebellious and went to reform school.  While giving birth, she nearly died from a stroke, but through it all, she never gave up.  At age 18, she received her GED and was named Oregon's outstanding Upward Bound student.  She worked odd jobs and earned enough money to go to college and earn a degree.  She still wasn't through with her education, though, as she applied to 15 medical schools and was rejected by them all.  Finally she was accepted by Albany Medical School where she graduated with honors at the age of 35.  A movie was made about her life.  She is now a renown and respected doctor at an Idaho Clinic.

This rebellious young lady turned into a wonderful doctor.  Albany Medical School gave her the chance she needed to fulfill her dreams.  It would have been easy to write her off like the other medical schools, but this institution saw something in her that other schools had overlooked.

I think the lesson in this story is to practice acceptance and understanding so that we can be a catalyst and make a difference in someone's life.  We are all teachers, and we all can be taught.  Let us encourage family and friends who are struggling.  Make us a blessing in someone's life.

Love and Light,
Patty