My husband looked at me with concern in his eyes.

“You never laugh any more. I miss hearing your laughter.” We both did.

We were halfway through a two-year situation that had me depressed, lethargic, and barely coping with home, work, and church commitments. I literally did not have the energy to do anything beyond survive. We live a typical 21st Century lifestyle with most evenings spent in the car running from work to meetings to Bible Study to piano lessons to youth group. Then my husband’s comment forced me to evaluate the toll I was paying for the lack of joy in my life.

So I became a couch potato and watched television. I chose two sitcoms often criticized as part of what’s wrong with our culture, but with one quality in common: they make me laugh. I made it a point to watch them when I was home.
I even made it a priority. I let the dinner dishes wait and the answering machine pick up phone calls. It seemed that the evenings I really needed to laugh were the times I was interrupted for various reasons, but I continued to tune in as often as possible.

I wish I could say that watching television solved all my problems and I became a beacon of light and merriment in my world. I still struggled to get through my days. But over time I noticed a general lightening of stress and my laughter has become more common.

I don’t recommend these shows as being worthwhile in any sense except for the amusement factor. A therapist friend tells me research shows that laughter benefits us in many ways, besides relieving stress. It releases chemicals in the brain and the benefits continue for up to twenty minutes after the laughter stops.

We have come through the worst of the bad time, I believe. I seek out jokes, sight gags, and situational humor to help me giggle again. And we’ve experienced healing through the comedy.

My husband now tells me how good it is to hear my laughter again. I thank Dr. Frasier Crane for my therapy.