Tuesday, September 16, 2008

9 Reasons to Laugh

Did you know that collar stays can be funny?

I didn’t either until I heard Dave Lieber teach at a writer’s conference this weekend. In his class on using humor to get our point across, he said it's possible to find humor in just about anything. Even collar stays.

Dave got us laughing as he told how he met a guy from Boston who was here in Texas on a business trip. He could hardly believe how panicked the guy was because he had lost a collar stay and couldn’t get another one at the hotel gift shop.

Dave, in an amazing act of self sacrifice gave the guy one of his own, but only after extorting a promise that when the guy got back to Boston he would tell everyone how nice Texans are. (Dave thought this part of the story was especially laudable and ironic, considering what he, a Yankee from New York, had endured when he first moved here.)

The story tickled me because my husband regularly loses his collar stays, but he doesn't notice. I collect them thinking he might want them some time, so far he never has. But then he’s Australian, and a computer programmer. Australians are a different breed. They probably wouldn't know a collar stay if it poked them in the eye. And computer programmers must have invented “casual day.” In fact, every day is “casual day” to them.

Speaking of humor... Proverbs 17:22 says that, "A cheerful heart is good medicine." If that isn't enough proof that a good laugh is good for you...

Theresa J. Borchard says in “9 Ways Humor Can Heal,” that humor can:
1. combat fear
2. comfort
3. relax
4. reduce pain
5. boost immunity
6. reduce stress
7. spread happiness
8. cultivate optimism
9. help communication

News flash: Did you know you can even get engraved collar stays?! Incredible! Who would have thought.

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