“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.” ~Reba McEntire

I don’t know about everyone else, but I love to laugh. I’m sure everyone knows by now that it has been proven that those who have a sense of humor are usually healthier than those who are constantly negative and angry. Not only does having a good chuckle keep you sane and healthy, but it also helps with stress and anxiety. The sad thing is that most adults forget to take time out of their busy lives to laugh and play. You’re never too old to have that childlike mentality when it comes to something that can boost a natural high.

“First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.” ~Steve Martin

According to helpguide.org, laughter can relax your body, boost your immune system, and release those feel-good endorphins everyone loves to have. Not only that, but it can decrease anger, help prevent heart disease, and…burn calories? Obviously, we aren’t able to lose an extreme amount of weight by laughing all day, but “one study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn about 40 calories…” (Laughter is the Best Medicine).

“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.” ~Oscar Wilde

Laughter also has many social perks. It can help others bond, forget conflict, promote teamwork, and strengthen relationships. Others are more attracted to us when we are able to giggle at ourselves from time to time. Be honest, who wants to be around someone who spends all day frowning? I mean, Jeff Dunham’s Walter act is funny, but that’s just because we all know people like that who drive us undeniably insane! If we had to be around someone like that all day, it would definitely take an angry toll on us and drag us down to their level.

“All my life I thought air was free, until I bought a bag of chips.” ~Anonymous

Using humor can help with major life obstacles. I know if I didn’t take the time to crack-up or even be a total sarcastic, smart a$$ I would definitely be in a different place mentally right now. One of the best gifts you can give yourself is to learn how to snicker at yourself. It’s better to be more laid back about a situation and find humor in it than to worry and fret. Even just taking the time to think of things that happened in the past that make you giggle can help tremendously.

“I didn’t fall, I’m just spending some quality time with the floor.” ~Anonymous

There are several ways you can bring a good chuckle into your life:

Watch a short video, television show, or comedy

My husband and I constantly quote funny parts to movies. Some of our favorites to quote are Night at the Roxbury, almost any Adam Sandler movie, Yes, Man, Tommy Boy, Dazed and Confused…and much more! We love comedy. Another way to find something funny is to go into the search engine on YouTube and type in funny vines.

“It’s all in the hips. It’s all in the hips. It’s all in the hips.” ~Chubbs- Happy Gilmore

Find your nearest comedy club

Or find stand-up comedians on Netflix or through rentals. I love Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, and Ralphie May. I’m not huge into the stand-up comedy, but these guys always make me laugh.

“Me racist? The only race I hate is the one you have to run.” ~Gabriel Iglesias

Read the comics

The comics aren’t as funny to me as they used to be, but some people love reading them. If anything you can always go to google and type funny memes into the search engine and go to the images section. Sometimes I do that when I need a good laugh.

Find a group on Facebook or any type of social media that promotes laughter

Man, am I a part of many of those humorous Facebook groups! I love following the ones that are sarcastic and full of humor. To me, Facebook is the best social media place for entertaining groups. If you go to the top and type funny in the search area, it comes up with so many options to laugh from.

Make sure you have friends that aren’t afraid to laugh

“Seek out funny people” (Laughter is the Best Medicine). This is a given. Who wants a friend who doesn’t have a sense of humor? When I was making a list of my ideal man (don’t laugh,..or DO laugh…I really did make a list), a sense of humor was at the top of my list along with being able to form a good friendship. I found a guy that can make me giggle in even the most uneasy situation. We have a ton of inside jokes. I don’t think I could be really chummy with someone who was serious all the time. Being genuine, honest, and thoughtful is definitely a good thing and at the top of my list as well, but humor for me is a must!

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Look up a joke and share it with someone who will laugh with you

I’ll admit I’m more into sarcasm and I think most jokes are corny, but I still catch myself chuckling from time to time when I read a good one-liner. Comedy Central has a jokes section that should be guaranteed to make you laugh depending on the type of humor you have from animal, blonde, miscellaneous, to dark humor…it seems to have everything.

“Did you hear about the two guys that stole a calendar? They each got six months.” Amazing Jokes

Find a funny book

There are joke books out there, but I’m sure you can find one in the list of the blog written by Minou Clark 46 Hilarious Books Guaranteed To Make You Laugh Out Loud.

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” ~Groucho Marx

Play games with family and friends

I love playing games! They are fun, and I’m always up for a good, friendly competition. Since my family doesn’t always think this way (because I win a lot), I usually play games on my phone or on the computer. If you have a lot of friends, party games like Cards Against Humanity can be really fun, but you definitely have to play with adults on that one because of the humor involved with that game.

“When I said that I cleaned my room, I just meant I made a path from the doorway to my bed.” ~Anonymous

Hang out with your kids

Kids are the best way for an adult to tap into their inner child. If you have kids, then most the time you have a sense of humor. My kids have said the funniest things over the years. When they were little, my kids were a hoot, especially my youngest. One day my oldest, Nick, said, “My nickname is Little Bear.” My youngest, about three years old at the time replied, “My Ayden name is Tigger!” He thought since his brother’s name was Nick that was the way it was really said. You have to laugh when you have kids or else you go nuts!

Do something fun

Go bowling, play pool, go to an arcade…I won’t lie…I love doing kid stuff. I will be one of the first people to tell you I will play games at an arcade with or without my kids!

“No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I’m not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal.” ~Bill Cosby

Get a pet…especially a dog…they will make you laugh

My dog makes me laugh uncontrollably sometimes. Nothing can make you forget your worries like watching an animal be innocently dorky. I have had many laughs with my dog. One day, I was playing a video I recorded of her on my computer to show my husband, and my dog looked around the entire room trying to figure out who was calling her name. She’d look at me like, “I know you’re not talking, so where is this coming from?” It was quite comical.

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing, right in your ear.” ~Dave Barry

“When I die, I want to go peacefully like my grandfather did–in his sleep. Not yelling and screaming like the passengers in his car.” ~Bob Monkhouse

I hope these ideas helped! Next time you feel sad, angry, uptight, or out-of-control, try to find a way to laugh. Humor can help you forget about all your problems. It can help you find a way to rid yourself of doubts and judgment. It can also give you a reason to just let go and be loose and wild. Honestly, life is way too short to spend time worrying about what others think of you. If you can’t laugh at yourself, what can you laugh at? I’m sure you can find plenty of things now.

–Carrie Pottberg

List of ideas tribute to Laughter is the Best Medicine