Last week I was out with a work colleague and we started to discuss whether or not we would be making any New Year resolutions. She said that one of her resolutions was going to be to laugh more. I thought that was an absolutely fantastic resolution and one I am also going to adopt, it is an easy simple resolution. We are going to be the extra happy ones in the office.

However I did think to myself that it was rather sad that we have to make a conscious decision to laugh more. Yes we laugh when we are watching or listening to something funny or are with our friends and family but imagine how much happiness could be spread if we laughed even more.

I started to think back to when I was a child when laughter came easily, in fact more time was probably spent laughing than anything else. It is thought that children laugh more than 300x a day compared to adults who laugh less than 20x a day, although I could not find any facts to back this up.

As we grow up and as our responsibilities grow there can sometimes be a tendency to take life too seriously and we forget that we are here to enjoy life as much as possible, after all we only get one.   Life shouldn’t be difficult but we sometimes make it so with the goals we set ourselves, and as a result, other important things take a back seat, like spending time with our families and children or developing and doing things we enjoy.   With all this we can sometimes forget to laugh as much as we used to.

Also at this time of year when colds and ‘flu are rife, smiling and laughing can in fact boost our immune system, it can give us more energy and can also reduce stress not to mention it helps us to relax.

Laughing more can also improve our mood and adds joy to our life, it can defuse a conflict and can strengthen a relationship and attracts others to us. People want to be where the laughter and happiness is.

I recall a couple of years ago a TV channel showed comedies on a Monday night rather than the usual two part crime dramas. I would come home from work and really laugh at the programmes, I thinking to myself why more TV channels didn’t have a comedy night on a Monday rather than the usual Friday night. It really lifted my mood especially if I had had a tough day at work.

There is also an advert on TV, I can’t recall what it is advertising, but it shows various babies really laughing, wherever I am in the house or whatever I am doing it never fails to make me laugh and just goes to show how laughter can spread.

The best thing about laughter is that it is free and can raise our spirits much more than anything else. There are many ways to increase our happiness and laughter is one of them. We should all try to take life less seriously and laugh more.

So as the New Year approaches and whether you are the kind of person to make resolutions or not wouldn’t it be great to laugh more and spread happiness wherever you go. Think of it as angel dust, everywhere it is sprinkled you spread a little happiness. A smile and laughter, rather like a yawn is infectious, it reverberates.

“You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing”.  – Michael Pritchard.

I would love to hear from you if you agree that laughter really is the best medicine for life.

Wishing all my lovely readers a very happy new year filled with love and laughter.  Lets make 2015 a year of happiness and laughter.