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5/11/2009 - by Tyler Wirth, Owner/Editor HumorInfusion.com
  
Bedtime Laughter: a Good Start to Better Humor Health

No, I'm not talking about laughing at that...get your mind out of the gutter!

Day in and day out we fall prey to the media.  They suck us in with story after story of gore, tragedy, and the misfortunes of other.  I said it in college and I’ll say it again: “innate in the human psyche is the desire to witness that which one has not experienced.”  That is why the news is so powerful!  Very few of us in society actually have the nerve to turn the television off when we see violence in the news, and we’re getting desensitized by the minute. 

The negative effects are incredible.  We see violent acts committed through imitation-it’s okay because I saw it on TV, and they only got a slap on the wrist is not an uncommon thought coursing through our youth today. Many folks walk around in fear of what violence might await them around each corner-is that any way to live one’s life?

How often do you go to sleep at night immediately after watching the 10 o’clock news?  I know I do.  Thankfully, most news broadcasts transition to somewhat positive things after they air the weather report--but how horrid is the first fifteen minutes of news we get every day and night?  TERRIBLE! 

Try this for a few nights to see if you sleep better: pick a late night show, Leno or Letterman (usually on just after the 10 o’clock news).  Watch the monologue and then go to bed.  These hosts-and their team of writers-- have such a great way of transforming much of the horrid news we get into something funny.  If nothing else, they at least make you smile about a thing or two before your head hits the pillow.

Another option would be if you have TIVO or a DVR (Digital Video Recorder).  Instead of watching your favorite comedies as soon as you’ve got the kids to sleep or right after dinner, save your favorite funny show for right before bed!  Going to sleep having just laughed is so much better for your sleep than having images of murder and our economic woes imprinted in your mind.

If all else fails, read some humor right before bed.  Reading in and of itself is very relaxing as you’re trying to get to sleep, but adding some humor material helps you relax even more.  Personally, I’m a big fan of The Far Side cartoons, and there’s some wonderful anthologies out there (Gary Larson has been retired a number of years now).

It’s difficult for us (the U.S. as a whole) to break our rituals of watching television right before bed.  What we can do is to change WHAT we watch so that we can fall to sleep with pleasant visions in our minds versus murder and mayhem!        

Humor Infusion
Recommended Reading:

The Far Side ® Gallery,   Unusually Stupid Politicians, Humor: The Psychology of Living Buoyantly,

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