The healing power of a belly laugh

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It's never too late for a good belly laugh.

July 1 was International Joke Day. The origins of the day remain unclear, but one thing is for certain: we all could use a good laugh about now.

Which reminds me about the man who walks into a library and says, "I'm looking for books about paranoid schizophrenia."

The librarian lowers her head and whispers, "They're right behind you."

One of my favorite dark-humor jokes is this one: "I hope to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did — not screaming and crying like the passengers in the plane he was piloting!"

The left-leaning political jokes of late-night comedians appeal to half of the country as their snarky nature polarizes the other half — which means those jokes are sarcasm, not humor.

Humor doesn't take political sides. Humor brings us together.

"Anthropological studies have shown that laughter evolved as a way for humans to signal friendship and as a way to create and strengthen ties with a group," reports timeanddate.com.

Which reminds me of the one about an American and an Irishman competing for the same job — director or business ethics — in Dublin, Ireland.

The HR manager asked both of them to complete a test. When the results came back, both men had answered every question correctly except the last one.

The manager told the Irishman he was giving the job to the American.

"But I am native born to this country and we both got the same score on your test," said the Irishman. "How could you possibly hire the American?"

"Because you have poor ethics," said the manager.

"How so?" asked the Irishman.

"Neither of you knew the answer to the last question," said the manager. "However, the American wrote, 'I don't know' and you wrote, 'Neither do I!'"

In his book "Anatomy of an Illness," Norman Cousins reported that laughter helped him cure his serious collagen disease.

Since then, scientists have discovered that humor really is good for our health.

Laughter produces pain-killing endorphins. It strengthens our immune system. It also decreases stress.

"When under stress, we produce a hormone called cortisol," reports PsychCentral. "Laughter significantly lowers cortisol levels and returns the body to a more relaxed state."

But we aren't laughing enough.

Which reminds me of the three fellows stranded on a deserted island. One morning, a magic lantern washes ashore. A genie pops out and grants each of the men one wish. The first fellow wishes he was off the island and, poof, he's home. The second fellow wishes the same and, poof, he's home too. The third fellow says, "I'm lonely. I wish my friends were back here."

The wonderful thing about humor is that it is infectious. It promotes goodwill, thoughtfulness and civility.

Regrettably, rudeness, anger and hatred are also infectious. They agitate us and tear us apart.

We must choose humor. We must rise above those who seek to agitate and divide us.

Which reminds me of the man standing before the Pearly Gates hoping to earn a spot in heaven. St. Peter says to him, "Tell me what good deed you have done recently?"

"I demanded that a group of bikers stop roughing up an elderly person," said the man.

"When did you do this?" said St. Peter.

"About 15 seconds ago," said the man.

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