Pain Relief

"A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." - Proverbs 17:22

I still remember the day my girlfriend was hospitalized. I could hear the beat of my heart and the echo of my footsteps as I walked down the hospital corridor toward her room. All I could think of was how will I respond to her?

I was puzzled when I found her sitting up in her bed smiling. She pulled a white tissue from the box, and handed it to me along with a small, plastic medicine cup filled with water. Then she carefully instructed me to take the items to the patient down the hall. I was to inform them that the cup was their basin of water, and the tissue the towel for their bath.

I knew what my girlfriend was up to. She was playing a practical joke on one of the patients she had befriended during her hospital stay. She had an active sense of humour and even though she wasn't feeling her best, she managed to keep her humour alive and well. I admired that she was able to keep her heart merry in the midst of adversity. I found her humour lifting my spirit as well.

God teaches us that a merry heart will do us good. It has the power to bring health to our physical bodies, and heal our wounded spirits.

Studies show that pain perception is reduced after laughter and that endorphins flood our bloodstream during stressful as well as enjoyable times. We've all watched as a wounded child runs to its mother for comfort from bumps, scrapes, and bruises; one pucker of the mothers lips in an affectionate kiss and the child skips away pain free and smiling.

Many days we don't feel like laughing - I know I don't. The trials and worries of everyday life just seem to choke up our ability to laugh. However, we have the gift of joy deep within our spirit. It's during these troubled times that we should leave our worries behind, and reach deep within for a good laugh. Life doesn't promise us that we will always be trouble free; however, we have the ability to laugh our troubles away.