What cold water is to a hot, thirsty body a hearty laugh is to a beleaguered soul. As we get beyond the youthful years we seem to laugh less. William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter, reports the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day. Yet, adults average just 17 laughs a day.We have allowed the stresses and demands of work and life to rob us of the joy of a smile and a laugh.
Proverbs 15:13 says, "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." By our own inner joy and outward expression of that joy we can bring grace to those around us. As a junior high teacher I tried to pepper my lessons with stories, jokes, riddles and other witticisms to make classroom learning enjoyable. While the students liked to moan and groan (outwardly) at my attempts, the comments I heard around the school told me that they enjoyed their classroom experience. As a pastor my rule of thumb was to have at least one interesting story or joke to illustrate every major point. Humor and laughter is like the "spoonful of sugar" that makes the "medicine go down". A classroom lecture or Sunday sermon is much easier to digest and enjoy when you are smiling.
Not all of us are comedians. However, all of us can smile pleasantly and work on having a joyful personality. We enhance our own circle of friends as people enjoy the positive feelings that radiate from us. So, turn on a little laughter and put on a little smile. After all, it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile.
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