December 26, 2015. Laughter Is Good
Laughter isn’t God, but it is good.
Pleasure is good too. When I eat ice cream I feel good because I enjoy the taste, but the joyful feeling fades quickly with the fading after taste. I can eat a large bowl, slowly, savoring each bite to prolong the pleasure, but it still fades quickly when it’s gone. And eating too much can damage my health and actually make me sick.
The joy that comes with laughter lasts a little longer. After watching a funny movie I feel good for hours. I can even bring back a smile just by thinking about it a few days later. But no amount of laughter brings permanent joy. Time erases the benefits of every good joke.
Striving for laughter constantly and neglecting other good things in life can actually lead to depression because laughter alone doesn’t satisfy or bring peace. Seeking to humor yourself can hurt others too. When you neglect or even offend the people in your life for the sake of a laugh, your quest for humor becomes destructive. The goodness is perverted.
I watched the movie “Patch Adams” yesterday evening about a doctoral student who worked wonders with hospital patients by making them laugh. Reflecting on that movie revealed something about myself—I enjoy a good laugh, but it’s not a vital part of my life. If I was a patient in that hospital I’d appreciate some of Patch’s attempts to spread cheer, but other things are far more important to me.
Peace and contentment are huge. I like to work hard and rest thoroughly. I enjoy quiet. Being outdoors in nature soothes my soul. People are important to me. I don’t even need to interact much with people. Just being together, sharing a time or experience is satisfying. Helping people is great!
Humor alone is meaningless, like pleasure, wealth, knowledge, wisdom, etc.—all meaningless. Together these things are fulfilling to a point, but life needs purpose and goals. Patch Adams found meaning and purpose in helping other people. He found a goal in creating a new hospital designed to help patients laugh and treat them with dignity instead of just treating their bodies.
I find purpose in life by striving to please my creator. I enjoy hard work, doing my best at all that I do, overcoming challenges, exercise, good food, people, beauty, massage, music, solving problems, playing games, gaining wisdom and understanding, laughter, and many other things. Laughter is somewhere in the middle of the list of things I enjoy—not at the top.