Laugh Your Way to Health and Happiness
82A Good Joke
Stop me if you've heard this one.
Bubba was bragging to his boss one day, "You know, I know everyone there is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them."
Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, "OK, Bubba how about Tom Cruise?"
"Sure, yes, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it." So Bubba and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door, and sure enough, Tom Cruise, shouts, "Bubba! Great to see you! You and your friend come right in and join me for lunch!"
Although impressed, Bubba's boss is still skeptical. After they leave Cruise's house, he tells Bubba that he thinks Bubba's knowing Cruise was just lucky.
"No, no, just name anyone else," Bubba says.
"President Clinton," his boss quickly retorts.
"Yes," Bubba says, "I know him, let's fly out to Washington."
And off they go. At the White House, Clinton spots Bubba on the tour and motions him and his boss over, saying, "Bubba, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let's have a cup of coffee first and catch up." Well, the boss is very shaken by now, but still not totally convinced.
After they leave the White house grounds, he expresses his doubts to Bubba, who again implores him to name anyone else.
"The Pope," his boss replies. "Sure!" says Bubba.
"My folks are from Poland, and I've known the Pope a long time."
So off they fly to Rome. Bubba and his boss are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when Bubba says, "This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope." and he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican. Sure enough, half an hour later Bubba emerges with the Pope on the balcony. But by the time Bubba returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics.
Working his way to his boss' side, Bubba asks him, "What happened?" His boss looks up and says, "I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and the man next to me said, "Who's that on the balcony with Bubba?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone loves a good joke, it makes us laugh and laughing feels good. Laughter has been long touted as the best medicine for mind, body, and soul, but do many of us know why, exactly, that is?
I Love to Laugh - Mary Poppins
Jokes = Brain Aerobics
While you're listening to a joke, your brain is hard at work. Processing what you're hearing activates the learning centres in your grey matter, and as it works to understand the punchline, it's getting its exercise. In other words, jokes are brainteasers and good for your mental health.
Assuming the jokes you're hearing are better than the one I've included in this hub, you'll be laughing once you've heard it. Next time you do, ask for an encore. If one workout is good for your brain, it's only smart to give it another, and as often as possible.
Laughing makes you healthy, happy and brainy!
Laugh Yourself High!
Next time you're grumpy, laugh. You may not feel like it, but find a way to do it. Maybe start with a smile, work your way up to a chuckle and keep going until the tears are rolling down your face and your belly hurts from it.
Every time you laugh, a chemical reaction takes place in your body that provides instant mood elevation. Your brain releases a lovely natural opiate called dopamine, and you are going to feel pretty darn good when it kicks in.
Laughing is a quick, easy, and free cure. What have you got to lose except a bad mood? Try it next time you're in a grump, the method comes with a money-back guarantee!
Stress Down and Boost Up
Pain and stress can be reduced with some good bouts of guffaws. When you're stressed or in pain, your muscles become tensed and your immune system is compromised. Laughing helps to relax your muscles and give your immunity a boost. Seriously, try it.
The Zen Brain
Know the best, fastest way to deflect anger and/or aggression? If you said, "laugh", you're right! The relaxed mood and increased dopamine levels will help to ward off the effects of a tense situation. It is adviseable to remove yourself from the source of the 'bad vibes' first. If you can get the perpetrator laughing with you before things escalate, you may well prevent the unpleasantness from happening at all. It's really hard to feel angry with someone you've just shared a funny with.
Laughter helps strengthen bonds between you and others. Jovial people are mellow and healthy and emotionally open.
Laugh Your Way to Love
Women love a funny guy, or at least one that can make them laugh. It's one of the most desireable traits that women look for in a potential mate.
She who laughs first also has the last laugh
We women must take responsibility for our role in hooking up with Mr. Happy. It only makes sense for us to laugh in order to attract those types of men in the first place. That way, both parties are having a lot of fun and feeling pretty relaxed about things. What better way to start a relationship?
Rx
Here are a few notes on how to use this miracle drug called laughter:
- Take daily doses to combat negativity and bad moods
- Keep entertainment light in the pre-bedtime hours. No heavy stuff, go to bed relaxed, not stressed
- Use humour to change unpleasant situations into tolerable ones
I considered putting one of those silly disclaimers here. You know, like the ones you see on television, 'Laughter may not be for everyone, side affects may include blissfulness, peace of mind, and increased sex drive' , that kind of thing. I decided against it, it's been overdone.
Giggle every day, as often as you can, and you will laugh your way to health and happiness.
Comments - HahahahahahahahahahahahaLoading...
Great hub!! I always enjoy reading stories about my friend Bubba!
Humour has got me through a lot in life. Sometimes it is a little warped but what the heck. It definitely works to boost your spirits.
I knew that one but it makes me laugh every time I hear it. I use to say that my childish side has save my mental health several times :D
Through out all the antidepressant and join us for a laugh, there is no better drug ;)
Have fun!
Laughter is always the best medicine, Thanks Shirley. I invite you to check out my hub "the Best Things in Life are Still Free." I think you'll appreciate it! Take care, keep writing. Julie
Great Hub Shirley and was very needed!:) Thankyuou...
The only downside to this is laughter-lines which people don't like when they get older but a thing i learned recently in another hubbers hub is that laughing lines are better than frowning ones!
Gotta love the bubba jokes.
I really enjoyed this hub Shirley. Yes, you do need that disclaimer, we wouldn't want anyone too stuffy to break their face.
Gawn
Thank you Shirley for a mood lifting hub
The joke was sooo cute! but the information was very useful. Now i know that i can use laughter as a common remedy for stress and everyday issues that we are plagued with! intresting! great hub!
Ah Shirley, that's great. What a fine and comprehensive site/hub. And what a coincidence. Among all the concepts I have on my list to write about, Laughter was a major topic for my PSYCH NEW YORK hub group. I was going to call it something like, We All Need Vitamin L: Laughter. You did such a good job, so I'll cross that off my to-do list. Unless some hubber thinks there's another angle to tackle about this topic.
I guess medicalizing or nutritionalizing LAUGHTER (as in calling it Vitamin L) won't make it any more palatable than it already is, and that other writers, like you Shirley, having done such a great job, you've relieved me of one item on my agenda. Whew. And I certainly agree, humor is essential for good health, good mental health, and certainly for artists wrestling with many challenges, a spoonful of L eases the struggle. Keep up the fine fun and fine writing, Shirley. Helen
Just like the old saying "Laughter is the best medicine" I know people who cant joke around, they are always serious and get stressed easily. My good friends are people who can laugh at just about anything and they have a good sense of humor.
Nice hub. Made me laugh. Laughter is like a good medicine.
Usually there isn't a nasty taste. Have you ever laughed at the wrong thing or wrong person before?
Now this is a Hub I can relate to!
An oldie but a Goodie.
Great to see you back out in the "normal" hub environment again.
I have a dog who makes me laugh, he is a blessing. Fun hub Shirley, THANX.
Wonderful Hub, Shirley! Loved the joke and everything else!
Here's another one on laughter for you--(you knew I couldn't resist, right!)
In the deepest jungles of Africa, two missionaries were seized by a tribe of hostile cannibals. The cannibals then stripped the missionaries of their clothing, hogtied them and threw them into a large vat of hot boiling water over an open fire with the intention of boiling them alive. As the missionaries kept praying for a miracle, one of them suddenly burst out laughing. This made the other missionary so confused by his companion's sudden burst of laughter that he screamed, "What's the matter with you? Here we are being boiled alive for lunch and you're laughing your head off! How do you find anything hilarious about all this?"
With tears in his eyes from laughing so much, the laughing missionary said, "I just peed in their soup!"
"Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone." I'd rather have the company and the fun!
Thanks Shirley- I feel better already! :-)
btw do you think there's a 'Bubba' in every country ?!
Thanks for the laugh shirley. I agree with you about aggression. If my husband is cranky (we call him grumpy) but sometimes I will stand up to him and argue back . But like you say. Other times I sit and acutally laugh at him and say he is mad or something similar.
In the end he has to laugh and ends up "saying you stupid bitch " but he means it in a nice laughing way though.
I agree wholeheartedly laughter should be a daily exercise. When you look at some people you would think if they laughed it would crack their face they are so serious.
In saying that I have often been called happy because my face does not actually display my inner happiness. My excuse is I was born with my sour face.
I was just sent this joke so couldnt resist putting it in here.
One day I met a sweet gentleman and fell in love. When it became apparent that we would marry, I made the supreme sacrifice and gave up beans. Some months later, on my birthday, my car broke down on the way home from work. Since I lived in the countryside I called my husband and told him that I would be late because I had to walk home. On my way, I passed by a small diner and the odour of baked beans was more than I could stand. With miles to walk, I figured that I would walk off any ill effects by the time I reached home, so I stopped at the diner and before I knew it, I had consumed three large orders of baked beans. All the way home, I made sure that I released all the gas.. Upon my arrival, my husband seemed excited to see! me and exclaimed delightedly: > 'Darling I have a surprise for dinner tonight.' > He then blindfolded me and led me to my chair at the dinner table. I took a seat and just as he was about to remove my blindfold, the telephone rang. He made me promise not to touch the blindfold until he returned and went to answer the call. > > The baked beans I had consumed were still affecting me and the pressure was becoming most unbearable, so while my husband was out of the room I seized the opportunity, shifted my weight to one leg and let one go. It was not only loud, but it smelled like a fertilizer truck running over a skunk in front of a pulpwood mill. I took my napkin from my lap and fanned the air around me vigorously. > Then, shifting to the other cheek, I ripped off three more. The stink was worse than cooked cabbage. > Keeping my ears carefully tuned to the conversation in the other room, > I went on like this for another few minutes. > > The pleasure was indescribable. When eventually the telephone farewells signalled the end of my freedom, I quickly fanned the air a few more times with my napkin, placed it on my lap and folded my hands back on it feeling very relieved and pleased with myself. > > > My face must have been the picture of innocence when my husband returned, apologizing for taking so long. He asked me if I had peeked through the blindfold, and I assured him I had not. > > > At this point, he removed the blindfold, and twelve dinner guests seated around the table chorused: 'Happy Birthday!' > > > I fainted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>
Great joke. I always love a little laugh to start the day.
LOL HI Shirley, laughter triggers the body's endorphins...the feel good hormones...so that makes us happy and healthier too :) A joyful hub.
I know 2 bubba's I am wondering which one is in this story =P
A biker walks into a bar and sees this woman at the end of the bar and says to the barkeep "I'd like to buy that lady a drink" Barkeep says "I wouldn't if I were you man, that's one of them transexuals." ...biker says "That's ok, I ride a Honda"
I like that joke. Thanks for the laugh.
Great Hub! Laughing is one of my favorite pastimes. Ofcourse I usually laugh at myself and no finds me nearly as funny as I do.
Thanks for the very funny hub, Shirley. You are absolutely right that humor is healthy and necessary for us to enjoy our lives more. I appreciate a good laugh, even if it's at my own expense.
Your fan.
Mon.
What a great hub...the serious facts behind the fun of laughter! When my children still at home, I used to try to find some way to get at least a chuckle out of them each and every morning -- and as lethargic morning teens they often groaned at my attempts -- but I knew the oxygen release and the mental spark of a good morning laugh would get their school days started a bit better. Nice to know I was actually being quite scientifically accurate!
Thanks Ms Shirley Anderson, you always put smile on everyone's face. So sweet of you.
Great hub!
angela
Hi Shirley:)
I have to mention this funny thing that happened, and thought this would be be the best place to mention it..
Well, it was yesterday and i was lying in bed half asleep with the kitty at the end of the bed as always, and i noticed a groaning sound which half woke me up, i listened again more carefully and i heard it was my kitty! snoring! very loudly!! and ive never heard kitty snore before ever!! i was laughing so much as it was so hilariously funny!! it was only when i heard some commercials on the TV come on that i realised i had fallen asleep to Big brother and the show was showing live streaming of the housemates sleeping! and one of them was snoring! i felt like a right plonker!!
I hope this gave someone a laugh or at least less frown lines!!
:)
Shirley,
I thought it may have been one of those "
you had to have been there moments" to have found it furry, oops i mean funny:)
Shirley, I'm still laughing. You know how your belly shakes when you're unable to stop it when something's so funny, so goooooooood? Well, other body parts beside the belly have a way of shaking too. Don't look now, too embarrassing. Even my eyeballs are rolling with laughter. thanx for uplifting my mooooooooood. ROFLOLHEF Creativita (a.k.a. Helen)
Shirley, I was in my office just finishing a session when I read your Bubba story. I laughed out loud. It's easy to underestimate the power of humor. Thanks a million for this excellent Hub:)
this is a good one. it brings me to a good feeling place. i'm a fan
Had to come back and read it again! Just as funny the second time!
I was just checking on you. Haven't heard from you in a few days. When are you gonna do a video of those jiggling body parts? I want to see it when it's done. :P
Great hub
A laugh keep you live longer.
First Eagle, Thor Einar
I will still watch the video if you make it. :P
I just added you as a friend on Stumble. Been a member for some time but I haven't really figure out how to use it yet.
Bubba and I go way back,---- Shirley, you are awesome.
great hub...funny...
The comments are as engaging as the hub!
Shirley, thanks for making me laugh.
Who was it who said, *Laughter is the best medicine?* I've been looking for the origin of that saying for a day or two, and haven't found it...and I'm thinking, Reader's Digest. Wasn't that one of their featured articles, or series of humor, like *Humor in Uniform*?
Laughter gets the belly rolling and the tears falling, and when the belly's rolling and the tears are falling, all bad things are cast to the wind, at least for a little while.
I have finally bitten the bullet.I like your writing and am now a fan
ok you're not going to believe this...but we have always said my husband knows everyone and the pope -- cuz he's always running into people he knows --- so one day....we moved to texas. lake jackson actually. we know no one there. we pull up --- just arriving the last 10 min and get gas....(it was in the late 70's and we could afford it then...)
and we pull up at a random gas station...and i'll be damned if Lynn didn't stick his hand out to a guy and stand there talking
now i'm thinking "he's pulling my leg...this is an act..."
and then he introduces me and its a guy i knew slightly from OKLAHOMA and lynn used to work with him on an oil rig....
i couldn't believeit what were the odds???? we have tons of stories lilke that in our lifel.----- i think it's either a huge conspiracy or Lynn truly does know everyone including the POPE i ain't asking if he knows the POPE im not even going there.
Shirley
Thank you for a great joke..I wanted to share a real funny story that made me laugh very hard!
I got in email from my friend...Enjoy it!
If you don't laugh out loud after you read this you are in a coma!
This is even funnier when you realize it's real! Next time you have a bad day at work, think of this guy.
Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an E-mail he sent to his sister. She then sent it to radio station 103.2 on FM dial in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job experience contest. Needless to say,she won.
Hi Sue, just another note from your bottom-dwellingbrother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all.
Before I can tell you what happened to me, I firstmust bore you with a few technicalities of my job. As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea.I wear a suit to the office. It's a wet suit. This time of year the water is quite cool, so whatwe do to keep warm is this: we have a diesel-powered industrial water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose. Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with no complaints.
What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wet suit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi.
Everything was going well, until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse.
Within a few seconds, my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done. In agony, I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit.
Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it. However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate. When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my butt.
I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing hysterically.Needless to say, I aborted the dive.
I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression.
When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't poop for two days because my butt was swollen shut.
So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt. Now repeat to yourself, "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job."
Now whenever you have a bad day, ask yourself: Is this a jellyfish bad day?
May you NEVER have a jellyfish bad day!!!!!
Tatyana
thanks tatyana for that story, i laughed out loua and shed a tear. Who knew that when I joined hubs to write, I would read so much and learn so much, this place has turned into such a huge blessing for me in such a short time!
great hub shirley , thank you
Hi Shirley,
What a wonderful piece of writing here....LOL
I, of course, am still laughing...LOL
I will have to come back and read this again when I'm feeling down. It is certain to pick me up!
Thanks for the smile,
Carol
SirDent pokes into Shirley's world. I love this article you know. Makes me smile and feel good every time I read it.
I am going to chatroom if you want to join me for a bit.
very nice liked the video as well. thumbs up from me.
That was funny! I used to be a regular addict to sad movies, sad songs and even sadder conversations. One day, I realized - what a waste of my time! I try to laugh as often as possible now. I loved the Bubba story! Thanks for reminding me of the importance of seeing the lighter side of things :)
Very funny!
Dear Shirley,
Sorry for taking so long to get here. This hub has brightened my day. Thank you.
Hey laughter is great, I totally agree, I made a website full of jokes a long time agoThe old website is still up but it's got pretty bad bit rot and I need to redo it. the database is still intact, and has over 5000 jokes and one liners.
Only the random joke function works, so it needs to be revamped. Here's a random joke link and if it offends you just laugh.
http://navehumor.com/php/joke.php?ref=default&
Anyone wanna help rebuild it?
I love to laugh! But is laughter truely contagious? Laughter is, without any doubt, a very healthy thing to do! :) I'm happy and I laugh all the time. Sometimes the laughter is internal, but usually (especially when I'm on stage) it's a burst of healthy happiness! :)
Great Hub! :)
ProCW
Just wanted to stop by and thank you for the mention in your newsletter interview! Can't wait to see who you chose for the next one!
Oh, man. This is exactly what I needed to wake myself up! Laughing is an excellent natural high. It's proof god wants us to be happy, for sure!
Beautifully crafted and well written hub. Yes, I believe in the power of laughter too. Some books have been written about how laughter can actually help with physical and emotional healing. Also, thank you for your kind comments on my hub: "Love Life Help". Check out my Squidoo pages and feel free to post samples of your writing services there. Sincerely: Gary Eby, author and therapist.
Laughter really is the best medicine isn't it? Love your hub - such a pleasure reading something so well written!
Shirley - Sorry that I found this so long after your wrote it. It sounds like you not only speak of laughter...I'm guessing that you "take your own medicine, regularly". My wife and I get at least one belly laugh a day and often more. Of the many benefits you spoke of, laughing helps each of us to take a step back so that we can easily "get over ourselves". It really does help you keep a wonderful perspective on life!
Thnaks for sharing lot of nice jokes
nice hub, even we have problems, always find a way to laugh, it will surely make you feel a little better.
Yes. Laughter is so important. So many of us get caught in making life far harder than it needs to be. I wrote a book about this called Laugh - The Way of Happiness in 1993. I have to remind myself of what I wrote often.
Great topic and hub, Shirley! Finding a way to see lightness and humor in all things is spot on ~ thanks!
- G
I probably need a good laugh or two or twenty today.
Shirley Anderson.Hi What great advice and information,how true,today is one of those days I need to laugh a lot more,and I loved the joke, Thank you.:) :)
You've certainly hit the humerus here ( funny bone), I do love to laugh and laugh constantly at my own jokes, it gives me a laugh always and sometimes my friends too.
Laughter is xsaid to be the best medicine ~ and that made me laugh!
Laughter is a great antidote to depression - I wish we could buy it in bottles. Strangely enough,I used to laugh a lot more when I was younger -I was very giggly -I've grown up too much
So true Shirley. Laughter is the best medicine by far. Great hub!
I'm a firm believer that laughter is the best medicine. Thanks for sharing this useful and at times, funny hub.
Quite a laughable hub!
Laugh-to have the world with you.And weep, to be alone!


































































Daniel Pyle 3 years ago
Great hub....I am a true believer in the healing nature of laughter.