Why Should We laugh?

Some  people laugh more than others, but we all laugh—in different ways: Ha-ha-ha! He-he-he! Yuk-yuk-yuk! Gik-gik-gik! Har-har-har!   

Now, listen to yourself when you’re laughing. You'll hear happy sounds.

Why do we laugh? And why should we? 

Laughter, which is only found in humans, gives us wonderful feelings.  

Animals don't, and can't, laugh. The laughing hyena does not really laugh. Its sound (to confuse the animals it wants to eat) only seems like laughter.

Scientific research tells us that a baby, as early as three months old, starts laughing. Why? 

Laughter serves a social function. It is our signal to other people that we wish to connect with them. Although sometimes we laugh alone when we find something funny, we laugh more often in a group, with family and friends. 

Young children between the ages of 2.5 and 4 were found to be eight times more likely to laugh at a cartoon when they watched it with another child than when they watched it alone. 

In a study among adults, the participants were asked to listen to a series of laughter. They had been able to determine the difference between laughter of people who had just met and laughter among long-time friends. These suggest true laughter is linked to friendship. 

Aside from social connection, Mayo clinic lists many physical health benefits of laughter: 

- increases our oxygen intake, which can stimulate our heart, lungs, and    muscles. 

- releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals our bodies produce to make us feel happy and relieve our pain or stress.

 - calms and relives tension by increasing and then decreasing our heart rate and blood pressure. 

- can boost our immune system response through the release of stress-and-illness-reducing neuropeptides.

So how can laughter not be God’s gift to man?  He loves us so much He wants us to feel better and be happy. 

We are happy when we laugh. 

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (James 1:17 NASB) 

Let's laugh out loud when we can!