Laughing is a Gift

Laughing is awesome.


I can say with considerable conviction that laughter is one of the best things that a person can do. The reason why is because of all of the different things that parallel laughter. It means the situation is light hearted, it means two or more people are coming together, it means you're socializing, it means you're losing weight (yes, people lose weight from laughing), it means you can put away any negativity for a minute and let out a smile, and it means you have something to laugh about.


Think of a time when you have walked through a densely crowded area. Think of everyones faces. Have you ever noticed that a handful of them (or even most of them) look unhappy? Granted, the thing on everyone's mind might be something along the lines of "Get me the hell out of this crowd," so they might all look unhappy for a common reason. But still, stern faces are abundant when you look at enough of them. Point is, there are people out there that rarely laugh. I can't believe that. I'm the kind of person who laughs at absolutely nothing, so that kind of situation is very foreign to me. Laughter to me is innate, and it bothers me that to some people it is not. It shouldn't have to be that way.


But think about those types of people. How many people in the world are worse off than you right now? If I asked myself that question, I wouldn't know the answer. I can't count that high. Right now I'm sitting in a warm room, in my bed, using the Internet as I smell a home cooked meal being made downstairs by the family that I love. There are people with none of those things. Some of the stern faces in that crowd have been stern all day. The circumstances that some people have are opposite of my own. A joke I find hilarious might fall flat for someone just because they are too preoccupied thinking of how unhappy they are with something in their life. I find days unique when I laugh less, but some people think just the opposite. I don't care what anyone says, this world needs more laughter. Too much is not enough - load it up, keep it coming, and don't stop.


Today my brother and myself were sitting on the couch at home, both of us on our laptops working. Long story short, the two of us were laughing uncontrollably for a solid 10 minutes (over one of those "you had to be there" kind of situations, so I won't try to explain it). When I say "laughing uncontrollably," I mean uncontrollably. One of the only things I am ever comfortable with that I can't control is laughing. We were somewhat laughing simply at each other's laughter, but it was still incredibly fun. We were happy people for those 10 minutes. We were coming together, we were losing weight, being positive, and smiling in those 10 minutes. I'd say that was a well spent 10 minutes. I wish it lasted longer. I wish more people got to laugh with us. I wish that it will happen again in the future.


Laughter needs to be thought of as a gift. It is the kind of gift that you should give frequently, more than once to the same person, at every chance that you can. The kind of gift that you can just throw in with what you already were planning on giving, because you can afford to do that. It is free to give, and free to receive. Whether you think so or not, it is not something that everyone has - and even those who do have it will welcome more of it.


So go listen to some stand-up comedy, or talk about a funny memory with a friend, or think of some crazy thing to do just to be random. And make sure you laugh when you do it.