A Mandate to Laugh

Sometimes, I wonder if kids have a mandate to laugh. When you tickle babies; they laugh, when you dance; kids laugh, when you are angry; they laugh. Even at the stupid things, they laugh.

Once, my brother-in-law tripped and fell; it was a huge fall, he hit the ground hard. His little three-year old found it amusing; he laughed so hard, I almost joined him! “See my daddy, e haff fallen down”, “my daddy haff fallen down”…he was laughing hard and pointing at his dad. After he’s had a good laugh, he went to hug his dad “daddy, sorry, you fall down? Sorry” Now it was my turn to laugh; you mean after that hysterical laughter, you would still extend your sympathy? Everyone had no choice then but to laugh. Kids are said to laugh about 400 times a day; adults just about 10 times. Is growing up that hard?

Yes, we are not kids; we are grown and different… We have purpose and goals to achieve There are bills to pay and standards to conform to. We are afraid to look stupid or act silly, We have cares of how much money is in the bank. Do I look as good as Ms Y? What’s my job title? How grand is my automobile? How many followers do I have on Twitter?

Truth is, no one can have it all, so breathe and relax. Laughter is good for your body no matter what is happening around you, plus an overload of it has no side effect. Laughing helps change our mood, and bolster our emotional well being.

A good fit of laughter can help you escape your burdens, and helps you relate better to other people by connecting to them better. So indulge, laugh at jokes, laugh at yourself and with yourself.

When next you see a funny post, don’t just type in ‘lol’; laugh out loud indeed. Take it one notch up, share the post with another serious adult.

When something uber exciting happens, don’t just hit your palm with the other fist and say ‘boom’- do the needful: jump up and throw your legs apart- that’s how kids do it.
When you stumble on a funny TV show, indulge and enjoy it. CNN would repeat the news in the next hour; it can wait. And if you ever find a little girl laughing, don’t ask her ‘what’s funny?’ – join her.

Live like you have a mandate to laugh daily, Life isn’t that serious-you are not coming out alive anyway.

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