I recently learned a valuable lesson about the role of humor in my life. My college-student stepdaughter called me the other day, and said she had been given an assignment in her psychology class to write a paper. She had the option of writing about the affect of stress upon mental health, or about the affect of humor upon mental health. For some odd reason, she wanted my advice as to which one to choose, and how to research it. I immediately recommended doing the paper on humor, since it sounded like it would be a lot more fun than stress.

A quick search on the internet for “”humor and health”" showed that there has been an immense amount of research done on this subject. Now this didn’t really surprise me. I have intuitively known since I was a child that a good laugh makes me feel good (and often puts a smile on the face of others in the vicinity), and must therefore be good for me. What surprised me was how until that moment, I had trivialized the impact of humor on my life, and on the lives of those I care about.

With this sudden epiphany, I vowed I would change. I decided to start giving humor the priority it deserved. I began to pursue humor with a vengeance. I doubled the number of practical jokes I play on my husband and children. I started actually reading the jokes emailed to me by friends. I perused numerous internet articles about the impact a good sense of humor can have on both our bodies and our souls.

Now don’t get me wrong – I have a long way to go down the path of humor enlightenment. I realized this just yesterday, as I stood in a slow-moving line at the grocery store. You know, the express line where you get behind the senior citizen who has way more than 15 items, and plans to write a check, who is behind the guy who forgot his swipe card, who is behind the lady who needs ten rainchecks. So there I am, evenly grinding the enamel off of my teeth, my temperature literally rising, muttering “”hurry up”" under my breath. Suddenly, a flash of realization struck me. I needed an attitude adjustment immediately, and humor was the key. I knew that the feel-good sensation from a good laugh could save me from melting into an angry puddle of froth. I looked around me at the rest of the cranky shoppers, and thought “”Gee, this must be what it feels like to be a cow”".

That is when I emitted my first “”Moo”". Admittedly, it was weak, and caused a flush of embarrassment to crawl up my cheeks. The surrounding shoppers peered around, looking at anything but me. Thankfully, though, I am persistent. My second “”Moo”" had much more clarity. I actually caused myself to snicker. The big breakthrough came when the lady in front of me turned around. She had an enormous grin on her face. “”Moo”" she said, causing an eruptive guffaw from the guy behind me. His subsequent “”Moo”" carried to the line at the next register.

The chain of moo’s continued from line to line, and died off only after meeting the physical barrier of the produce section. The giggles, murmured jokes, rolling eyes, and grins lasted quite a bit longer. Needless to say, I walked out of that store with a smile on my face, regardless of the fact that I had been a victim of the express line from hell.

Granted, that was just one small life experience, but it proved that humor can save us from our own foul moods if given the chance. It also proved that humor is infectious. Just like a yawn, it can carry from one individual to the next. So get out there and laugh! Try to introduce a little humor into the next stressful situation you are in, and just see what happens.

Remember to add a dose of humor to each and every day. Laugh for life!

Considering the fact that this is coming from a guy who writes about how to prevent stress and manage anxiety symptoms, I suspect that this ironic little story will strike your funny bone. Let me tell you about a day I had recently — there is a lesson to be learned here.

Did you ever have one of those days when you just did not want to get out of bed? I had been up until 3:30 the night before; and no, I was not up partying all night (alas, my party days are but a distant memory now). As happens sometimes, I was doing some research for a project I was working on and the clock got away from me.

As I lay there in bed dreading the thought of actually moving, I ran through the list of things that I had to get done: work on the website, straighten out some issues regarding a couple of business deals that were giving me problems, write TWO articles, write AND practice a speech for a presentation I had to give in a few days, and to somehow squeeze in time to get to the gym . . . Needless to say, I was feeling overwhelmed before I even set foot out of bed — which is not a great way to start the day!

As my day progressed, the symptoms of stress and anxiety reared their ugly head. I yelled at my dog. I cursed the telephone as it tumbled to the floor and out of my reach behind the desk. I was feeling tired, anxious, frustrated, and generally cranky and by 9 o’clock that evening I was exhausted and I did not want to do another single thing, but I still had one article left to write.

I procrastinated. I looked at the computer screen. I checked email. I yelled at my dog again (poor fella, he’s such a good boy and he didn’t deserve it). I leaned back and stared at the ceiling when a notion struck me. Like a diamond bullet going a thousand miles an hour it struck me right in the center of my forehead. I started to laugh. I laughed hard and I laughed loud. My dog came over to see what the commotion was all about and I gave him a good belly rub that escalated into a five minute session of “”where is the tennis ball hiding?”"

I collapsed on the living room floor with a big smile on my face and I proceeded to stretch out my muscles and practice deep breathing exercise. By 9:30 I was feeling completely refreshed and in a fantastic mood! By 10:10 the article was finished and submitted. I watched a little TV and was in bed by 11 o’clock. It was a good night.

So, what is the moral of the story? The moral is that there really are simple tips and techniques for how to prevent stress that actually work! Stress management need not be complicated. Whenever you are feeling stressed, tense, overworked and anxious, try taking a break, having a good laugh, stretching out your muscles and breathing deeply for a few minutes.

Of all people, I should have known better. Had I practiced what I preach and taken a few breaks during the day a lot of aggravation could have been avoided. By the way, do you want to know the topic of the article that was driving me to distraction? You guessed it — it was about how to prevent stress!