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"This I Believe":Laughter: The Best Medicine

Author: Emma Fisher (Benton Central HS)
Rachel Lattimore

I believe in one concept that can be understood?no matter what religion, race, gender, or relationship status?and that would be humor. The idea of opening your mouth and exploding in a loud noise because your joy cannot be contained inside any longer amazes me. The kind of noise that occurs deep from within your stomach and becomes silent because of how enthralling such an emotion stirs. A loss of words as each stranger in that room can share such a connection over something that seems so simple—a joke.

An uncomfortable situation can quickly flip into a lighthearted and less overwhelming feeling after a witty comment resounds. I can remember learning this from my brother at a young age. My mother, a teacher, had to complete a few classroom tasks after school, and rather than volunteering to help, my brother and I had spent more time chasing each other than helping. As we dodged in and around the desks, I took a tumble into a table, slicing the top of my head. The shock of my brother was plastered all over his face for the entire journey to the emergency room. Once there, the sharp, looped needle was terrifying to look at, immediately tears built up around the edges of my eyes; I was overwhelmed by fear more than pain. As my brother was overcome with guilt, our fingers are intertwined, and he simply stated, “Man, aren’t we in a tough ‘stitch’-uation. ” An immediate burst of laughter from everyone in the starkly silent room overcame any thought of the pain I was enduring at the time.

I believe that humor is an attribute, which, if fine tuned, enables people to connect, to relate, and to laugh?which we all know really is the best medicine.  This I believe.