Since I was a small child, one thing I have always been able to do is laugh. I enjoy the feeling of laughter, the release I feel inside and out. I enjoy making others laugh too and sometimes that means they are laughing at me laughing at myself. I don't mind a bit. Serves me right.
One time I went to a swanky "Jack & Jill" party at a mansion. Five minutes into the adult only party, I drop my infant's walking shoe into the foot high sculptured lobster dip, (true story and probably a future blog post). The shoe fell out of a diaper bag I was carrying, yep I brought my infant daughter to the party. After being "put out", I sat in the driveway of that mansion and laughed til my heart was content. It was more of a laugh/cry but retelling that story over the years always gets the whole room in a roar, complete with the visual of me trying to reshape the dip after digging the shoe out. Who knows how many people I have kept well with just one story and where the joke was on me?
Are you really, truly capable of laughing at yourself? If so, it's a good sign that you have an optimistic personality and a good sense of humor, a new study suggests.
A small, new study in the journal Emotion of 70 people reveals that
those who are really able to laugh at themselves are more cheerful and less serious than people who fake it.
Researchers tested the phenomena by first asking the study participants if
they are able to laugh at themselves. Then, they took secret footage of the
study participants as they saw -- and laughed at -- distorted pictures of
themselves.
Researchers found that ability of people to laugh at themselves was
not connected with how much they laughed at the images of other people --
suggesting that it has more to do with a specific character trait, rather than
just recognizing a funny photo when you see one, TIME reported.
In addition to being good for spirits, laughter has also been shown in past research to boost health. A small study presented this year at an American Heart Association meeting showed that listening to funny jokes or your favorite music could lower blood pressure possibly even as much as cutting salt from your diet or losing 10 pounds.
Read TIME's full story here.
So are you laughing yet? It is never too late to get your belly laugh on and get others laughing at you too. It's good for the body and for your soul!
One time I went to a swanky "Jack & Jill" party at a mansion. Five minutes into the adult only party, I drop my infant's walking shoe into the foot high sculptured lobster dip, (true story and probably a future blog post). The shoe fell out of a diaper bag I was carrying, yep I brought my infant daughter to the party. After being "put out", I sat in the driveway of that mansion and laughed til my heart was content. It was more of a laugh/cry but retelling that story over the years always gets the whole room in a roar, complete with the visual of me trying to reshape the dip after digging the shoe out. Who knows how many people I have kept well with just one story and where the joke was on me?
Are you really, truly capable of laughing at yourself? If so, it's a good sign that you have an optimistic personality and a good sense of humor, a new study suggests.
A small, new study in the journal Emotion of 70 people reveals that
those who are really able to laugh at themselves are more cheerful and less serious than people who fake it.
Researchers tested the phenomena by first asking the study participants if
they are able to laugh at themselves. Then, they took secret footage of the
study participants as they saw -- and laughed at -- distorted pictures of
themselves.
Researchers found that ability of people to laugh at themselves was
not connected with how much they laughed at the images of other people --
suggesting that it has more to do with a specific character trait, rather than
just recognizing a funny photo when you see one, TIME reported.
In addition to being good for spirits, laughter has also been shown in past research to boost health. A small study presented this year at an American Heart Association meeting showed that listening to funny jokes or your favorite music could lower blood pressure possibly even as much as cutting salt from your diet or losing 10 pounds.
Read TIME's full story here.
So are you laughing yet? It is never too late to get your belly laugh on and get others laughing at you too. It's good for the body and for your soul!
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