Tale Weaver 04.11.21 – Laughter

Stephanie Colpron is our host for the Tale Weaver challenge. You can find out more and join in here
I did a post on this years ago when I first started my blog, so I’m cheating a bit by using some of that.

According to a health guide site, a good hearty laugh can relieve stress and tension thus relaxing the whole body for up to 45 minutes; it can boost the immune system by decreasing stress hormones and increasing infection fighting anti-bodies; it triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel good chemicals; it protects your heart by improving the functions of blood vessels and increasing the blood flow.

I am forever laughing at myself, a lot of which is to cover embarrassment, but as I have always been a bit on the large side, getting the laughs in first reduced the chance of someone else coming out with tactless yet hurtful remarks that may reduce me to tears for another reason.

I slipped in the street and landed in a heap at the bus stop. Two very gallant young lads came across to help me up, but I couldn’t do anything for laughing which made their task impossible. I wasn’t hurt, apart from my dignity and a bruised wrist, but the doughnuts had gone for a burton and got squished under the bus, which made me laugh all the harder. The guys were brilliant, and with the help of a third, managed to get me on my feet and merrily on my way (doughnutless I might add, which probably helped the diet).

Years later, when my chair collapsed under me in the office, my chin missed the edge of the desk by a fraction of an inch, so I kept all my teeth and consciousness.
What followed was like something out of a classic comedy routine, with one person rushing off to get another chair, someone else a hot water bottle, a third a cushion, a fourth a glass of water and a fifth the Accident Book in case I was really hurt and would sue the company for providing shoddy furniture. Again, I could do nothing for tears of laughter, and with so many other people trying to pick me up off the floor, I had to flap them all away and stood on my own two feet, however inelegantly, by grabbing the desk and heaving myself up. I ended up getting a new, and bigger, chair.

In 2016 and 2019 I had two unpleasant visitors called Humphrey and Dick. My sense of humour, however warped, got me through both cancer treatments. I remember going to my first weigh in after my mastectomy and having not lost an ounce, burst out laughing as apparently my right boob would have weighed at least a pound!

Advertisement