Laughter and Laugh Charlie Chaplin

â€Å"Now is the Time to Laugh† Charlie Chaplin once said â€Å"laughter is the tonic, the surcease for pain. † It is also often that you hear the saying â€Å"laughter is the best medicine,† which is not just an opinion, but has been proven to be true. In this paper I will prove to you that laughter is the best medicine and that one should not suppress their laughter to seem professional or respectful. No matter what the situation, laughter should be welcomed as a natural and enjoyable action that should not and cannot be controlled. The purpose of my paper is not only to prove my point but also to help everyone to appreciate and respect the natural, wonderful experience of one’s laughter and the laughter of others. Norman Cousins said that â€Å"laughter is inner jogging,† which is a good way to put the fact that laughter is actually beneficial for one’s health. Dr. William Fry of Stanford University Medical School compared laughing to inner exercise, he showed that laughing lowers your blood pressure and heart rate, improves lung capacity, massages internal organs, increases memory and alertness, reduces pain, improves digestion, and lowers stress hormones. It also exercises the muscles involved such as your chest and abdominals. A recent study at the University of Maryland Medical Center showed that laughing more and having a strong sense of humor can decrease your risk for heart attack and heart disease. The benefits also include psychological health. It lowers stress and eases anxiety and fear. It also strengthens relationships by bringing you closer to people, helping defuse a conflict, and promoting group bonding. It also helps you think more clearly. Laughter in a relationship is important because it helps you open up more to the person and it brings you closer to them. It can ease the tension during an argument and make one feel more relaxed and comfortable in any situation. Many studies have shown that children laugh around 400 times a day while adults only laugh around 15 times a day. Many professional adults look at laughter as inappropriate and disrespectful. They reduce their laughing while at work and suppress it so they look more professional and sophisticated. School children are forced to be quite and not to laugh ecause their teachers see it as disrespectful and foolish. Lord Chesterfield said that â€Å"frequent and loud laughter is the characteristic of folly and ill manners,† but how can people believe that such a natural, wonderful feeling can be such a terrible thing. There are no reasonable explanations as to why laughter is considered disrespectful. Sure if you are laughing at someone as a way of making f un of them, then that is hurtful and disrespectful, but when people cannot control their laughter, it should not be considered a horrible thing. People don’t find other natural things like sneezing or coughing to be offensive, so why should they find laughter disrespectful. Many people say that this is not the time to laugh, especially at places like funerals, church or a business meeting, but would the person that passed away want you to never laugh in their presence? And would God give you a sense of humor if He didn’t want you to use it? And would anyone want to work with someone who had no sense of humor? Of course not! If anyone ever said they didn’t want to be acquainted with anyone who had a sense of humor and knew how to have fun than they must be lying. God made us the way we are and He made us with a sense of humor for a reason. Sure there are certain times where you should control your laughter but it is more often that you absolutely should not try to control your laughter because it should be completely acceptable in almost any situation. Laughter, love and happiness are by far the best feelings anyone could have and everyone should be able to experience. You wouldn’t say that someone didn’t deserve love or happiness, so why would you say that someone doesn’t deserve to laugh? I personally love to laugh. Who doesn’t? I love laughing with my friends and family and I love to make other people laugh. I believe that a good sense of humor is one of the best qualities you can find in a friend. Everyone deserves happiness and to be truly happy you must be able to laugh in any situation. Most of my close friends are my friends because they know how to make me laugh and I love to laugh with them. As soon as I meet someone who is funny and laughs whenever they want to, I am immediately attracted to them. The number one quality I look for in a friend or boyfriend is an amazing sense of humor and the ability to make me laugh and laugh with me. Everyone knows that no one likes a â€Å"Debby downer† and I think that everyone should be as happy as they can and laugh as much as they can. I believe that true happiness comes from love, and laughter. People should see laughter as one of the best feelings and should welcome it in any situation when it is truly natural. Every day an average person should laugh for at least 15 minutes collectively. As Charlie Chaplin said â€Å"a day without laughter is a day wasted. †