The Power Of Laughter

Many people think of laughter and automatically imagine happiness, when that isn’t always the case. Laughter can be both a good thing and a bad thing and I have experienced both. I believe that there are two different types of laughter, there’s a joyous laughter and a taunting laughter. A joyous laughter can brighten someone’s day or enhance their mood. Laughing releases endorphins throughout the body which naturally makes you feel better. Whereas taunting laughter can make one feel unworthy and embarassed. I am sure that everyone has stories about these two kinds of laughter, as we have all been through it. I know that I have gone through both of those emotions many times where laughing can either boost my mood or just bring me right down. Luckily, laughter towards me personally represents mostly happiness.

Whenever I am feeling sad or upset about something, I know that a good laugh will make me feel uplifted. For example, after a tough basketball loss I am usually in a bad mood and unhappy with myself. During away games, this can mean a long and dispirited bus ride back. Even though a lot of the team is brought down by our loss, there’s usually one or two people who can bring the bus’ energy back up. It’s like a domino effect. After a few of us start laughing, eventually the whole bus will be laughing. This just goes to show how fast our moods can change based on the people around you. If you surround yourself with good people, laughing will bring joyfulness.

Although laughing can lead to happiness, in some cases it can lead to sadness. Getting laughed at in a way of mockery can never be fun even if it was jokingly. I’ve been lucky where this hasn’t happened to me too often or that badly, but there have been times where I’ve felt this way. When I was a sophomore, I was very nervous to read my sophomore speech. I had practiced it many times before reading it, as I was scared to mess up. While I was reading it in front of the class, I started out strong but then ended up stuttering on a few sentences. I could hear people whispering in the background which made me focus on them and mess up even more. They started to giggle, however I didn’t know if they were talking and laughing about me but either way it threw me off. Their laughter started affecting how I was presenting. After finishing that paragraph, I decided to take a second to regather myself and finish off my speech. Although this occurence didn’t leave me upset, it does show how much it affected me and how I felt self-conscious. Finally, I spoke slower and made it through my speech mistake-free. Therefore, it’s important to block it out and take a moment to yourself.

In conclusion, laughter can be a powerful thing and can help shape your happiness. It can affect you positively and negatively, like how I described from my experiences. Laughter can go both ways and make people feel two completely different ways. Although sometimes you can’t help it, it’s up to you to chose which laughter you want to portray. I believe that laughter is a powerful thing and should be used in a positive way.

“Shiny happy people” by Donna Cymek is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0