A high ranking Tibetan Buddhist teacher once commented that the ultimate pollution was in our minds. He also commented that it was necessary for us to be good citizens. I would say the first deals with each of us working on ourselves and the second with how we manifest in the world. So how do we deal with that? Well I wrote a paper that I think is relevant. Here it is.

Health, Laughter, Cheerfulness and State of Mind

Very often we believe that if the right things happen we will be happy and if the wrong things happen we will be miserable. But a poem by the American poet, Theodore Roethke entitled, The Right Things Happen to the Happy Man, has it correct. It is the opposite.

Our state of mind comes first. That doesn't mean that tragedy will leave us untouched; that would be ridiculous. Nor for that matter should positive events propel us off into states of ecstasy. Working with extreme emotions in a calm manner is very important for our health. If you get depressed bring yourself up; if you start to get euphoric, calm yourself down, don’t get too excited. How can we do that?

A friend and associate of mine is currently undergoing a very stressful time. His daughter of 16 years has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Sometimes he feels like he is going out of his mind; other times he sees that going out of his mind will not help his daughter. She is responding well to treatment and the prognosis is good. My friend has to work on maintaining a stable mind and positive attitude. But how does one do that?

Well, it’s not easy when something very stressful occurs. My meditation teacher, a Tibetan meditation master by the name of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche (The founder of Shambhala Buddhist centers in the west-- http://www.shambhala.org ) said that he had trained himself so that when the ocean of life got rougher and rougher he would get calmer and calmer.

If you have ever done any blue water sailing out of sight of any familiar landmarks, maybe in a deep fog, you can relate to this image. Even a lowly deckhand at the helm is as responsible for the ship’s safety as the captain. If he or she started to panic at the moment when calmness is most required, that would be both dangerous and stupid.

Same rule applies to life. There are some things that really help: sense of humor, delight, joy and laughter. In fact, it has been shown that laughter is curative.

We should not try to control thoughts but simply not give them so much power. Let them arise, dwell and then depart. The meditation practice in Shambhala Buddhism (http://www.shambhala.org ) helps us train ourselves to do this. In fact it really has nothing to do with religion. One could be a member of any faith and benefit from these practices.

Well, let’s get back to laughter. A belly laugh a day will keep the doctor away. Add it to the apple you eat daily. Here’s the story of Norman Cousins’ recovery from a dreadful illness that the doctors couldn’t cure. Reprinted with the permission of the author, Lou Stoops, www.loustoops.com

There sure are a lot of things to be stressed-out about; pressures in the workplace, in the home and even in areas that are supposed to be leisure experiences. Sometimes all the pressure can seem overwhelming. What can you do about it? Well, try laughing more!

Many people remember Dan Jansen, 1994 Winter Olympic gold medalist. He wanted to succeed in his quest for achievement, so he did the things that are normally associated with excelling sports performance. But sometimes doing what normally works isn't enough. For Jansen, that meant consulting sports psychologist James Loehr. Armed with the knowledge that humor relaxes and relieves stress, Dr. Loehr recommended that Jansen loosen-up and laugh more.
Research from the University of Colorado reveals that when we laugh, our brain releases chemicals that have pain-reduction benefits. Laughter also promotes healing. During periods of intense stress and fearfulness, another chemical works to block the healing chemicals, and thus, we become more prone to long-term illness.

Dr. Norman Cousins, an editor many years ago for the noted Saturday Review, was struck with a disease that doctors had no cure for. It was the early 1960's, and it seemed that a sentence of death had been given to him. Dr. Cousin's however, understood the effects of negative emotions on the human body and reasoned that positive emotions could have a healing quality. He set out on a grand experiment that consisted of watching hours of Marx Brother movies and "Candid Camera" reruns. He learned about his disease and he learned to laugh. He wrote about his experiences in his book, Anatomy of An Illness As Perceived By the Patient. One of the things he discovered that benefited him was that a ten minute belly laugh could give him two
hours of painless sleep. No small gain for someone in pain!

Another interesting finding that's recently been discovered is that children laugh an average of 400 times a day, whereas adults laugh an average of only 15 times a day! Apparently, life knocks the fun out of us as we grow older.

The bright side of life, the essence of humor in every situation, has the ability to take the sting out of stressful experiences. So, we need to laugh more. We take life so seriously because of the circumstances and events that come into our path; our feelings are errant guides to surviving
those hard moments. We must lighten up and look at life with humor. It takes a willful choice. Some will find it easier than others, but all of us can do it.

I remember so well the day President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin. I was holding a funeral in a small town in east-central Indiana. The television happened to be on in the funeral director's office and there, replayed for our eyes, was the tragic event. What stood out most to me, as I later digested the many details of the shooting, was the President's humorous attitude as he was being wheeled into the emergency room, and then on into surgery. It is reported that the President looked up at the doctors that were scurrying to give him care, and said, "I hope all of you are Republicans!" While I don't discount the skillful medical expertise of the doctors attending to Mr. Reagan, I can't help but believe that it was his attitude that had the decisive role in his recovery.

When you're stressed-out and feeling overwhelmed, try laughing out loud. It won't make your problems go away; you'll just be able to weather them better. Refuse the rule of circumstances and embrace the lighter side. Hugh Downs made the point well when he said, "A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."

So don’t forget Theodore Reothke’s poem, The Right Things Happen to the Happy Man. Go find it in your local library or do a Google search.

Set up a plan for yourself that schedules more joy, humor and laughter in your life. If you tell yourself you can’t then you are defeated before you begin. Here are a few suggestions:

• Go rent a few funny movies – share them with a friend or neighbor
• Visit a favorite relative or friend
• Do something pleasant every day just for you; a bubble bath with a glass of wine—create your own list
• Learn how to meditate
• Participate in your favorite activities on a regular basis: dancing, sports, theatre, music, and reading
• Avoid negative people
• Practice optimism and cheerfulness—it’s a learned response
• Recognize your fear, hesitation and negativity. Acknowledge them, and don’t feel bad or guilty about them—just go past them.