Feed with Laughter

“Now that's a smile!” Bubba cheered as he touched Matt's mouth with his paw. “I knew you had it in you.”

“I haven't smiled in so long I forgot what it feels like,” Matt said.

“And how does it feel?”

“It feels good—really good.”

“Yep,” Bubba said. “A smile is only a laugh away. If you want to smile more, then laugh more. If you want to generate real smiles, then think of things that make you laugh like this here joke: Knock, knock.”

“Who's there?” Matt asked.

“Dog.”

“Dog who?”

“Doggonit, why aren't you answering the door?”

All at once Bubba and Matt burst out with laugher, fell to the grass, and rolled around on their backs as they continued to laugh uncontrollably. They laughed and laughed and laughed and when they stopped laughing Bubba told another joke and they laughed some more.

Eventually they calmed down and got to their feet. Matt said, “Wow, I don't ever remember smiling or feeling like this. I feel like I can fly.”

“Yep, laughter not only makes you smile more, it's also a powerful way to feed the positive dog each day,” Bubba said. “Studies show that laughter improves your mood, reduces stress, boosts your immune system, relaxes your muscles, and adds joy to your life. Laughing is a priceless, free drug you can feed yourself anytime you want to feel positive. Best of all, you don't have to wait for something to make you laugh, you can think of funny experiences or jokes to get the ball rolling.”

Bubba then started digging and once again scooped out Jade's book and showed Matt a story about a man named Norman Cousins who was diagnosed with a painful illness for which there was no cure. Instead of accepting his fate he became the subject of his own experiment. He decided to fill his body and brain with tons of positive emotions by watching hours of Marx Brothers movies and having his nurse read him humorous stories. He discovered that a ten minute, hearty belly laugh could help him sleep two hours without pain and in a short time he was off painkillers and sleeping pills. Cousins declared that he laughed himself to health and that laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors.

“If he can do it,” Bubba said, “so can you. You can make yourself laugh and generate real smiles with humorous thoughts.”

“It's all about our thoughts, isn't it?” Matt asked as he was beginning to grasp how feeding the positive dog works.

“Yes it is,” Bubba said as Barry called for all the dogs to come into the shelter. It was nap time, but as the other dogs made their way into their kennels and went to sleep, Matt stayed awake and remembered the funny jokes Bubba told him and once again laughed and smiled. He also thought of the lessons Bubba taught him and knew he would remember them better if he imagined they were written on dog bones like this: