INSCRIPTION: THE THEREUPATIC VALUE OF LAUGHTER
THE DIFFERENCE ONE LIFE CAN MAKE
NORMAN COUSINS –THE THEREUPATIC VALUE OF LAUGHTER
Soon after arriving home from a trip abroad, Norman Cousins was almost unable to move his neck, arms, hands, fingers, and legs. He was diagnosed as suffering from a severe collagen disease-a disease of the connective tissues. His doctor told him, “Your chance for full recovery is one in 500”.
At first, he went through routine medications and various tests. As he thought about his condition and the doctor’s diagnosis, he concluded within himself, “It seemed clear to me”, he later wrote, “that if I was to be that one in 500, I had better be something more than a passive observer.”
He pondered further, “Wouldn’t positive emotions produce positive effects? Is it possible that love, hope, faith, laughter, confidence, and the will to live have a therapeutic value?
Cousins worked out a plan; walked out of the hospital, secured a room in the hotel, hired a nurse, and watched Marx Brothers’ movies and “Candid Camera” television programs.
He discovered that ten minutes of a good, deep belly laugh would provide him with two hours of pain-free sleep- the first in months. Week by week, Norman Cousins’s strength surged. His mobility improved and he fully recovered.
Your physical well-being is determined by your emotional well-being. The state of mind governs or controls the state of function of body systems.
Don’t level down to the strain and stress of living, rather level up to the joy of living; move on to the humor side of life – enjoy life.
