The Healing Effects of Humor
by Dan Gascon
The time it will take for your healing, and your ability to cope, are directly affected by the feelings and emotions you associate with.
“Negative emotions have a negative effect on health. Positive emotions a positive effect.”
Norman Cousins
Think about spending a large part of your emotional day feeling negative. What about spending large amounts of time around other people who spend most of their time being negative? Think about these words:
angry
upset
gloomy unhappy
despair
guilty sullen
depressed
ignored lonely
sad
hurt
Do you have that sinking feeling? Overexposure to negativity is very unhealthy and can make you sick. It depletes your strength and makes it more difficult to resist disease.
Now think about spending most of your emotional day feeling positive, spending time with others who are positive. Think about these words:
joy
happy
kind cheerful
laughter
delighted calm
joking
vivacious love
giggle
merriment
It gives you a lift just thinking about them! Humor and laughter are symbols for all the positive emotions. They are symptoms of health and well-being as well as the best way of getting off the downward spiral of negativity. They are the safest and cheapest forms of medicine we can get over or under the counter!
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Copyright 2005 by Dan Gascon. Founder of Humor for your health. Reprinted with permission. Reach Dan at www.humorforyourhealth.com
