HUMOUR, SMILE and LAUGHTER
Dr. T. Rama Prasad
“Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” -- Ellla Wheeler Wilcox
Dr. T. Rama Prasad
“Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” -- Ellla Wheeler Wilcox
Somewhere in our mechanical and mundane lives, smile and laughter slipped off creating our grumpy selves. Cliched as it may sound, laughter could indeed be the best medicine. It is essential to add a dash of humour to our social recipe. There is a scientific basis for this. Laughter alters the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain – increasing the level of ‘serotonin’, the ‘happy-feel-good’ hormone; increasing the level of ‘endorphins’, the pain-modifying group of hormones; reducing the levels of ‘catecholamines’ / ‘cortisol’ and ‘epinephrine’ which are stress-related hormones associated with elevated blood pressure, sleep disturbances, palpitation, run-down feeling, psychiatric problems, etc. Nothing is more needed than the serenity that a tranquil mind provides in today’s frenetic consumerist age of intense stress, consumer-oriented economic expectations, urban lifestyles, high academic expectations, insufficient family support structure, long working hours and fierce competition. Stress kills – kills the ‘real’ quality of life. Modern society lives in stress and in the hypocrisy of ‘unreal’ good quality of life. People love to pretend that their life is exciting.
Any child would chuckle, smile and laugh. As one grows up, nowadays, the sweet smile is fading away and the roaring laughter is locked up inside. Busy with inexorable smart phones, not interacting with people is a new age thing to do. In this modern era, stress and anxiety have replaced the sweet smile (genuine smile, not the artificial smile which is abundantly available in every five-star hotel) and the roaring laughter. Patience level is almost touching zero, timelines are getting shorter and stress levels have shot up steeply. Consequently, illness has increased.
Then, when you go to a hospital the ‘catecholamine’ level goes further higher up what with all the laundry lists of investigations, procedures, drugs, etc. You are in a whirlpool, you can never come out of it. Remember that the world is driven by money. The modern day stress starts from Pre-KG and ends only at the graveyard. A day may come when we have to send our kids to coaching classes to learn how to smile and laugh !
If you have the enthusiasm to work and the enthusiasm to help others with a smile, you can be sure that you are in good health. Extensive health check-ups are not necessary, except a few basic ones. Pleasantly feeling that you are in good health is the most effective preventive medicine. Psyche plays a great role in health and disease. Often, an abnormal test result or a negative remark by a doctor ruins the health of a person, not the fault in his system. Many a times "patients" are made out of "normal" population by needless "screening" initiatives. For more on this, go to my article: HEALTH CHECK-UP: how healthy is it ? - The Hindu, Open Page, Jan. 15, 2012 - . …
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-
page/article2801701.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-
page/article2801701.ece
In some societies, people laugh, laugh and laugh on the World Laughter Day, the first Sunday of May. ‘Laughter Clubs’ for ‘community laughing’ (otherwise called ‘the most artificial laughing’ which must be as stressful as crying !) are present even in Indian cities. Some, like Kandalam Krishna Kumar, are naturally gifted with spontaneous and boisterous laughter. If you can’t laugh, at least smile. Smile certainly adds value to your face, however ugly it may be !
To tickle the funny bone, I’ll share a gag with you:
A mechanic asked a heart surgeon, while repairing his car: “Hey Doc, may I ask you a question ?”
The heart surgeon surgeon said : “Sure, go ahead.”
The mechanic asked: “So Doc, look at this engine. I am also opening it up, take valves out, fix them, put in new parts, and when I finish, this will work like a new one. So how come I get just a pittance and you get the real big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work ?”
The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic: “Try doing it while the engine is running !”
On September 20, 2017, the Planning Commission, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, declared that any one earning more than Rs.25/- per day in rural areas and Rs.36/- in urban areas is above the poverty line and would be able to spend for food, education, health, housing, clothing, etc. (The Hindu, Sept. 23, 2011) and hence is ineligible for the sops given to those below the poverty line (BPL)! What a whiff of fresh air !
The statistics cited above indicate that our bureaucrats are not all wooden with red tape in the file-strewn corridors of power. They also provide sparks of humour and sparkle of wit. Let us thank the government for the above laughable matters which remind us that they too have a funny bone. After all, the government is interested in the health of the citizen ! They know that laughter is the best health promoter.
SILENCE IS ALSO A GOOD MEDICINE
Laughter is said to be the best medicine. But, silence is also a good medicine -- not the silence of the mouth, but the silence of the mind. Silence is keeping all thoughts away from the mind, just keeping the mind blank, not allowing any thought coming into the mind. This is also a good medicine. Perhaps, this is the basis of ‘yoga & meditation’ to which certain things are added on. Many of us keep on thinking of mundane things while doing ‘yoga & meditation’ and even while praying to God. That is why we don’t get the expected results. Keeping the mind silent is not easy, but it is good for health. Silence is golden.
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
-- Lao Tzu
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
-- Lao Tzu
Modern world has become increasingly materialistic leading to, mental stress which has become the biggest enemy of good health. Eschew needless thoughts; become more silent mentally; take things easy and as they come; smile & laugh more heartily; and enjoy better health and live longer.
A good 30 laughs - Dilbert's one liners: Old Classics!
🔺 I say no to alcohol, it just doesn't listen.
🔺 A friend in need is a pest indeed.
🔺 Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
🔺 Work is fine if it doesn't take too much of your time.
🔺 When everything comes in your way you're in the wrong lane.
🔺 The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..
🔺 Born free, taxed to death.
🔺 Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.
🔺 Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
🔺 Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
🔺 If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you'll have trouble putting on your pants.
🔺 It's not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.
🔺 I love being a writer... what I can't stand is the paper work..
🔺 A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.
🔺 The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.
🔺 The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
🔺 In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?
🔺 If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?
🔺 Beat the 5 O'clock rush, leave work at noon!
🔺 If you can't convince them, confuse them.
🔺 It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end.
🔺 I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
🔺 Hot glass looks same as cold glass. - Cunino's Law of Burnt Fingers
🔺 The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker.
🔺 Someday is not a day of the week
🔺 Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
🔺 The road to success.... Is always under construction.
🔺 Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Milk.
🔺 In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don't really need it.
SMILING STAFF
🔺 A friend in need is a pest indeed.
🔺 Marriage is one of the chief causes of divorce.
🔺 Work is fine if it doesn't take too much of your time.
🔺 When everything comes in your way you're in the wrong lane.
🔺 The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..
🔺 Born free, taxed to death.
🔺 Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.
🔺 Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.
🔺 Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.
🔺 If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you'll have trouble putting on your pants.
🔺 It's not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.
🔺 I love being a writer... what I can't stand is the paper work..
🔺 A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.
🔺 The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.
🔺 The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.
🔺 In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?
🔺 If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?
🔺 Beat the 5 O'clock rush, leave work at noon!
🔺 If you can't convince them, confuse them.
🔺 It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end.
🔺 I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
🔺 Hot glass looks same as cold glass. - Cunino's Law of Burnt Fingers
🔺 The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker.
🔺 Someday is not a day of the week
🔺 Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
🔺 The road to success.... Is always under construction.
🔺 Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Milk.
🔺 In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don't really need it.
SMILING STAFF
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