JUST DO IT - LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH

 NORMAN COUSINS

Norman Cousins (1912-1990) was editor-in-chief of the Saturday Review for over 35 years. He was a tireless advocate for world peace and in his later years devoted much writing and study to the issues of illness and healing. 

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE by Professor Keith Scott- Mumby

Most of us are familiar with the extraordinary book The Anatomy Of An Illness by Norman Cousins (1979). In it he describes the therapeutic benefits of laughter. Cousins had crippling arthritis and was told, pretty much, it was incurable.

Well, it wasn’t! Norman Cousins checked out a whole bunch of old movies (Marx Brothers, Candid Camera Episodes, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, etc.) and laughed his head off for weeks and months.

The result? His arthritis was cured. He later wrote about his success with this approach and recovery for the New England Journal of Medicine. Doctors studiously ignored his “unscientific” suggestion, of course. They put their faith—to  this day—in “treatments” that cure nothing and are in themselves dangerous (opioid deaths have now reached epidemic proportions).

Extending Norman Cousins Idea

Here’s something that goes beyond The Anatomy Of An Illness by Norman Cousins and has therapeutic potential for all of us. The things is, Cousins set himself up with a good reason to laugh: comedy movies.

But what if there is no “reason” to laugh? Well, there is always a reason to laugh, if you look around you! It can be, in itself, a mental weakness to always need a reason to do things. Spontaneity (no reason) is, in itself, an end or reason and can be highly therapeutic for us all!

Try this:

Just stand up and start laughing—WITHOUT ANY REASON AT ALL!

At first you may find it incredibly difficult. We all feel we need a reason to laugh (or do anything else). You don’t.

To do anything without a reason can be soothing and enhancing. It is an ability we need to develop. Otherwise life becomes much too serious.

When you get going and find you can start laughing at will and without a cause, next push yourself to keep laughing! And don’t get serious about it. Don’t try too hard. Forget about laughing authentically. Just laugh!

You will find other changes will take place in your mental landscape, other than just a more joyous sense of humor. You won’t be as stressed or anxious about outcomes; you’ll be able to open up to other points of view; what once seemed a problem will recede; people you couldn’t stand will become tolerable.