Aging Humor

What does aging humor have to do with antiaging? Quite a lot, actually. Humor usually causes us to laugh.

Laughter has a lot of health benefits:

• It reduces stress (if your laughter is frequent and hearty it can even increase immune function!)¹

• It contributes to healthy functioning of your blood vessels.²

• It lowers blood pressure.³

• It reduces the level of post-surgical pain.^4,5

• It (humor and laughter) is beneficial to your lungs, liver, heart, pancreas, spleen, stomach, intestines and brain.⁵

Other benefits of a good hearty laugh listed often are:

• Elevated mood

• Connect you to others

• Foster instant relaxation

• Make you feel good

Anything that can do all of this is obviously anti aging!

So, without further ado, let me start with a few pieces of aging humor.

A friend, Sandy Duvall, forwarded this to me (sans pictures). I don't know who the author is, but I thought it was worth sharing:

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table,

put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye-- they need water.

I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the garden isn't watered,

the car isn't washed,

the bills aren't paid,

there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,

the flowers don't have enough water,

there is still only 1 check in my checkbook,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Do me a favor.

Send this message to everyone you know, because I don't have a clue who I've sent it to.

Don't laugh---if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Medical Disclaimer: All information on this page is of a general nature and is furnished for your mirth and relaxation. The information on this page is to be taken as a medical or health promoting experience. Information on this site is from third parties, and while we personally consider it fun or funny, you should read it yourself and form your own educated opinion.

Go to Home Page: Information on Antiaging

Footnotes:

¹Bennett, M.P., et. al. (2003). "The effect of mirthful laughter on stress and natural killer cell activity." Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 9(2): 38-45. Abstract retrieved 14 July 2008 from the PubMed Website: Alternative Therapies.

²Miller, Michael (March 2005). University of Maryland School of Medicine Shows Laughter Helps Blood Vessels Function Better. Retrieved 14 July 2008 from the University of Maryland Medical Center Website: Laughter Helps Blood Vessels.

³Lefcourt, H.M., et. al. (December 1997). "Humor As a Stress Moderator in the Prediction of Blood Pressure Obtained during Five Stressful Tasks." Journal of Research in Personality, 31(4): 523-542. Abstract retrieved 14 July 2008 from the Ingenta Connect Website: Humor Moderates Stress.

⁴Cousins, Norman. (1989). Head First--The Biology of Hope. New York, NY: Dutton.

⁵Walsh, James (1928). Laughter and Health. New York: D. Appleton and Company.

⁶Pictures used by permission:
Garden, aussiegall;
Wash Car, Sylvar;
Car Keys, Gordon McAlpin;
Checkbook, PrncesGwenna;
Coke Can, Sergio;
Remote Control, Nika Dizon;
Eyeglasses, Yves Vincent Grossmann;
Wilted Flowers, Mike V.;
Unpaid Bills, Markeys & Sharon;
Mail in Basket, Bart;
Mail on Table, , Joel Bombardier.