Many years ago, I read the story of Norman Cousins, who was diagnosed with a serious illness and given a very limited chance of recovery. Instead of accepting that prognosis as his destiny, he embarked on an unusual experiment. He began watching old comedy movies and looking for every opportunity to laugh.

He immersed himself in humor, joy, and amusement. While there were many factors involved in his recovery, Cousins believed laughter played a significant role in his healing. He famously wrote,

"Ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep."

His experience helped inspire further research into the connection between laughter, stress, and healing, and serves as a reminder that sometimes one of the most powerful medicines available to us is joy. Whether you believe laughter can heal the body or not, there is growing evidence that it affects our mind, nervous system, immune system, and emotional well-being. Laughter lowers stress hormones, releases endorphins, improves mood, strengthens social bonds, and reminds us—if only for a moment—that life is more than our worries.

I believe laughter is one of the most natural expressions of our True Nature.
Before we learned to worry about our image, our reputation, our accomplishments, our mistakes, or what other people thought of us, we laughed easily. Children laugh hundreds of times a day. They laugh at themselves, at each other, at things that make no sense, and sometimes simply because someone else is laughing.
Somewhere along the way many of us become “way too”  serious.
We become serious about our responsibilities.
Serious about our problems.
Serious about our opinions.
Serious about our identities.
Sometimes we become so serious that we forget that life also contains absurdity, playfulness, irony, and humor.
And perhaps what we need in those moments is not another self-help book, another productivity tool, or another thing to do.
Maybe what we need is a really good laugh.
The kind of laugh that sneaks up on you.
The kind that causes tears to form in your eyes.
The kind that makes your stomach hurt.
The kind that leaves you gasping for breath and wondering why something so ridiculous is so funny.
The last time I laughed out loud was when I saw this:
  

 Remember joy, playfulness, and laughter are not distractions from life.

They are part of life.