What's brown and sticky all over? ……………………………………………………….a STICK!
(Sometimes called the world's funniest joke)
Combatting Stress
Stress … it does bad things to me. My stomach knots up; I become irritable; I can't sleep at night but can't stay awake during the day; I eat … a lot, and not the healthy stuff. No, I want burgers and fries and chips and cokes and ice cream and chocolate and anything salty, sweet, and/or fried! It's a bad state of affairs for me. Word on the street is that my family doesn't like me stressed either! Apparently, it is not a walk in the park for them.
There are several ways I use to combat my stress. A run works wonders, as does just going to the gym. Getting outside and breathing in the pure desert air for a good bit often makes the stress melt away. When I'm super stressed, I'll take a Saturday and do not-a-blasted-thing. I lay around and watch TV and sleep and do all of that some more. But my favorite stress relief is laughter!
Science and Humor
Reader's Digest used to have a section called Laughter is the Best Medicine. Turns out, that's true! Laughter hits all of the pillars of fitness. Physically, boosts the immune system, improves the heart, increases blood flow, and those big belly laughs utilize abdominal muscles. Mentally, laughter decreases stress hormones and increases the "feel-good hormones (dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins). It also reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety and the more one can laugh in the midst of crisis, the better able one is to handle the crisis itself. Socially, laughter in company increases the sense of community and connection. Spiritually, laughter brings new perspectives, the ability to forgive, empathy, and a host of other spiritual effects as the laughter often reframes a given situation.
My wife struggled with clinical depression for many years. Yet, laughter found its way into our darkest moments together, injecting sunshine into the gloom and often providing a way for us to see the bright reality of each other. Here's an example: she was in the kitchen baking bread one fine day, with her habitual black cloud of depression hanging overhead. When I walked in, I made some off-handed comment. She looked at me; she looked at the dough; she looked at me; she took a handful of flour and threw it at my head! This broke out into a minor food fight, and the end, the mood had lightened and proverbial sunshine shone through the darkness, even if only for a few moments! Laughter lifts up and provides deep breaths of life-giving freshness.
Resources
Where do I get my humor fix? My go-tos are episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? And The Big Bang Theory. Of course, one can't go wrong with Dad Jokes, like these:
Where do you store your Dad Jokes? A Dad-a-base!
What's black and white and read all over? A newspaper!
What did the left hand say to the right hand? How's it feel to always be right?
What do you call a line of rabbits marching backwards? A receding hare line!
Why don't fish play piano? Because they can't tuna piano.
Why can't dinosaurs clap their hands? Because they're extinct.
What do you call a cow with…
No legs? Ground beef.
One leg? Stake.
Two legs? Side of beef.
Three legs? Lean beef.
Four legs? Whole beef.
Five legs? GMO.
Reflect
What signifies you are stressed?
How do you relieve stress?
Have you ever laughed yourself out of stressful situations?
When is a time you used laughter inappropriately?
Where do you get your humor fix?
