Corny as it sounds, sometimes laughter really is the best medicine. Scientific study has proven that it benefits the heart, and the immune system, by reducing the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Of course when bad things happen, there’s nothing to laugh about. Although those are the times we need it most.
I didn’t see anything funny when I was diagnosed with cancer. I was doing too much crying to think about laughing.
I don’t remember exactly when it changed. Maybe it was seeing my 7 year old son parading around in one of my long wigs. Maybe it was the Woody Allen standup comedy routines my ex-husband sent me to listen to in the car. Maybe it was when I realized that my battle with cancer would end my battle against headlice, which naturally I caught around that time… and one day during chemo I discovered the only thing remaining on my bald head was one stubborn little bug.
I do remember how I felt. Powerful. Just to be able to laugh at something that terrified me. I realized if I could laugh at cancer, I could laugh at anything. And I’ve used humor as a weapon in every crisis ever since.
Click here to read the rest of this post on the Choose You blog for the American Cancer Society.
This is an inspirational post. I want to do this, too. I remember laughing with my mom until my sides ached. It did make everything else – – bad moods, whatever was happening that I didn’t like – – just fade into the background. Great post!
I can also remember laughing like that with my mom, and my sister, too. Though I can’t make that happen at will, I can will myself to see the humor in most things. But I sure wish I could have more of those laughs when you can’t even breathe. Nothing like it. THanks so much.
Great Post Darryle! When my husband was diagnosed with cancer, I forced myself to laugh. At first, I tried it out in the shower, where no one would hear me when the laughter turned to tears. At first it was just a smile, nearly breaking the atrophied muscles in my cheeks. But it worked. I did end up laughing, and then I cried too. It broke something free, and allowed me to tap into a deeper place of healing.
Kim, thanks so much for sharing this—and what a beautiful and enlightening expression of how humor can work in healing. After I wrote this, I just found a picture of myself and my husband laughing hysterically about 2 months after my diagnosis—and what I remember is just what you described—the incredible release and breaking free which allows some of the pain and hurt start to heal. Thanks again for your comment.