Laughter is a key to happiness

Laughter is a key to happiness. Yep, in fact, laughter is the most important aspect to being happy -- no Prozac required! We often forget that laughter is a very essence of our spirit.

Laughter relates to communication, too. When we greet one another in America we say "Hello" which is similar to the Hawaiian's "Aloha". Alo - meaning in the presence of and Ha - the divine. (See Belinda Farrell's article on Forgiveness for more about Aloha.) The expression Hello was probably originally Ha llo... !

Look at the efforts people will put into making other people laugh. We have TV shows such as David Letterman, Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Friends, The Simpsons, Cheers, etc., which all strive to make people laugh. A whole category of films are classified as comedies. Why? People love to laugh! Clowns at the circus dress funny and do goofy things to make kids (and adults) laugh, sometimes until they cry.

In theatre, there is the happy, laughing face always portrayed opposite the sad, crying face (comedy & tragedy). William Shakespeare utilized both in his plays. While we have the tense tragedy in Hamlet, Macbeth or Othello we have the humor in Midsummer Night's Dream or Much Ado About Nothing. Yet, even in tragedy, humor is often used to relax the audience during the most tense moments. Alfred Hitchcock was a master of utilizing humor in tense moments in his films of the 40's, 50's and 60's.

In business settings, I have found that when a manager or customer has asked me a question and I felt completely at a loss for (when I should have known the answer) the only escape is to make a joke. This relieves the situation and tended to allow people to forgive me for my mistake.

There is a time and a place for humor. If we run around laughing in a church when someone just died we might offend (I've always hoped people would laugh at my funeral though).

Here are 5 ways to incorporate more laughter (and more power of HA) into your life:

If you feel goofy, let it out.

Feel free to encourage someone through laughing with them.

Watch more comedies than tragedies (or certainly than horror).

Listen to music or read a book that makes you laugh.

Start laughing for no reason at all. (ok, be careful where you try this one - don't want you to get locked away!)

相关单词：portrayed

portrayed解释：v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

portrayed例句：

Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。

The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

相关单词：utilized

utilized解释：v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 )

utilized例句：

In the19th century waterpower was widely utilized to generate electricity. 在19世纪人们大规模使用水力来发电。 来自《简明英汉词典》

The empty building can be utilized for city storage. 可以利用那栋空建筑物作城市的仓库。 来自《简明英汉词典》

相关单词：utilizing

utilizing解释：v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

utilizing例句：

Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句

The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句