A Bit ‘O Fun...

Give us, Lord, a bit o' sun,

a bit o' work and a bit o' fun;
give us all, in the struggle and splutter,

our daily bread and a bit o' butter.

Give us health, our keep to make,

an' a bit to spare for poor folks' sake;
give us sense, for we're some of us duffers,

an' a heart to feel for all that suffers.

Give us, too, a bit o' song, 

an' a tale, an' a book to help us along,
an' give us our share o' sorrow's lesson

that we may see how grief's a blessing.

Give us, Lord, a chance to be

our goodly best - brave, wise and free;
our goodly best for ourselves and others

'til all men learn to live as brothers.

In my Irish heart of hearts, I know this is an old Irish prayer, but I’ve since been told it’s English, that it belongs to the Boy Scouts, that is a camping ritual prayer??? (really?).  Next someone will claim it came from the Koran (who knows?) – but for me it will always remain an Old Irish Prayer!

It crossed my mind this morning at mass.  We have a young priest from Ireland filling in for our vacationing pastor.  His sense of humor was definitely honed back on the old sod and his brogue doesn’t hurt his delivery either.  He likes to tell jokes to get his point across and today’s was about the importance of laughter in our lives and not taking ourselves too seriously.  He really lives the words “a bit o’ sun, a bit o’ work and a bit o’ fun.”

He claims there is research that says a child laughs an average of 115 times a day – an adult, 15.  From my experience around certain people, I think it’s a lot less than 15!  I’m not sure even I laugh that much each day and I really do try to find the humor in things.  Apparently, since he arrived, he has discovered America’s Funniest Home Videos and loves to have a few “belly laughs in the evenings.”  He also recounted the famous Norman Cousins’ chronicle of curing himself of pain, and ultimately of his disease, by self-medicating with The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy movies. 

Laughter may be the best medicine, but can it really cure an illness?  Doctors may have scoffed at this notion once, but today, your physician may actually advise you to increase your daily dose of laughter to improve your health. Today’s medical field now includes a Science of Happiness (seriously!) with real psychologists, who have discovered that laughter sets off a chain reaction throughout the body which promotes physical and psychological health. I wonder how many universities have a Happinessology Department?  Can’t you just see Jerry Lewis as the dean?  Okay, I digress.

Laughter lowers your body's hormone and cortisol levels thus reducing your chance of getting heart disease, high blood pressure and excess belly fat. Laughter also boosts your immune system by producing antibodies in your saliva and your bloodstream to stave off bacteria, viruses and parasites.  Even people with eczema have noted improvement in their symptoms after regularly watching funny movies. 

When you laugh, it affects your body the same way that a brisk walk would, increasing the aerobic capacity of your heart and lungs by expanding your oxygen consumption and increasing your heart rate and blood pressure.  The brain also releases endorphins which are the body’s natural energy booster, a natural painkiller, and a natural mood enhancer.  As a bonus, when the laughter subsides, along comes blessed relaxation. 

Some in the medical community may still be skeptical of the healing power of laughter, but over 100 hospitals in the US now have comedy carts traveling the hospital floors to make bedside visits to patients.  The staff and volunteers bring cheer and inspire laughter.  Some cancer treatment centers are actually incorporating laughter therapy sessions into a patient’s treatment plan in order to increase the positive thinking and happy feelings that support the healing process.  We all know that laughter is contagious.  The camaraderie fostered by laughter and humor therapy chases away the fear and promotes relaxation to speed the healing process. 

Patch Adams and his colleagues at the Gusundheit Institute in Virginia use a combination of clowning, singing and dancing to treat patients through entertainment in conjunction with traditional medicine.  A similar group in Australia uses clown therapy to incite laughter in patients dealing with injuries, diseases, and terminal illnesses.  

In 1995, Dr. Batan Kataria led the first laughter yoga class in Mumbai, India.  Today, people in more than 50 countries practice laughter Yoga to temporarily relieve pain.  Laughter therapy has even been proven to help our men and women serving in the military as a stress reliever to help prevent and treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.  Although there’s no concrete evidence that laughter alone can cure an illness, it does promote physical and mental health.  

So, I suggest that everyone tries to laugh at least 15 times a day.  If you can’t find anything to laugh about, as they say “Fake it ‘til you make it!”  Even forced or fake laughter will work – plus, odds are that it will turn into true laughter.  I have to go now.  I have to program my DVR to the comedy channel.  

SURVIVAL TIPS – Find something to laugh at – start with yourself first!  We really are our own best material.  Enjoy every minute of every day – “a bit o’ song, an’ a tale, an’ a book to help us along.”