
It supposedly means laugh out loud. Some people think it’s lots of love, but my daughter thinks it’s these little 2-in tall dolls with big eyes.
Whatever L.O.L. means to you, I intend to change your concept of L.O.L. before the end of this blog post.
Have you ever heard of the phrase laughter therapy? Webster’s dictionary defines it as a humor-induced hormonal intervention to reduce stress and anxiety. I bet that’s as clear as mud, right? Let me break it down for you.
Laughter therapy is intentionally making yourself laugh even when you feel like crap—knowing that your body will fill full of happy hormones and push out some of the stress hormones when you do this. It is actively taking time every day to laugh.
I have been setting an alarm on my cell phone that repeats daily. It goes off twice a day to remind me to watch something funny. I’ve been watching a lot of stand-up comedy. Some of it sucks. I’ll be honest, but some people out there just have the gift of laughter. They make me laugh so hard my face hurts. There is some complex science behind this, but I won’t bore you. I will tell you from a real-world perspective this stuff works. Every day I engage in laughter therapy, I am a whole lot better human to be around. My outlook is better. I feel better, and my day seems to go better.
You need to understand that happiness is a choice. It is not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. I believe Ralph Marston said that. We need to understand that laughing swaps the cortisol in our system with dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. So, it makes us feel better in that moment.
Let me give you some facts about laughter. Then you can decide if it will be worth your time to laugh daily.
- Laughter is a natural painkiller
- Laughter strengthens the heart and boosts your immune system
- Laughter is contagious
- Laughter works as an antidepressant
- Laughter creates bonds between people and increases intimacy with others
- Laughter reduces blood pressure
- Laughter increases your T cells, which are the backbone of your immune system.
- Laughter therapy has been known to help recovering addicts
- In the case of Norman Cousins, laughter therapy helped him heal and walk out of the hospital when he was doomed to die
So, How much comedy do you watch? How many funny cat videos can you watch? Whatever makes you laugh. I won’t tell you what your sense of humor should be. I’m just saying do something to make yourself laugh at least twice daily. Your body will thank you later.
So L.O.L. people. L.O.L. at least twice a day!
There’s a wise old saying that says, “for as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” What does that mean, exactly? It means you become what you think about regularly. Your consistent thoughts become your actions, and your actions change the reality around you. I know this sounds like a bunch of hoodoos, but I promise you there’s science behind it.
What if we trained our minds to create instead of to destroy? We could change the world with one mind at a time.