I have been asked many times, how I cope with so many losses, so much
sickness, and so much loss of sleep. One of my tools is humor, and
being able to laugh at myself, and with others. I so much enjoyed
"Welfare Ferrets" yesterday, and felt sorry to see the poster attacked.

I weigh 210 pounds (at 5ft. 2") and my face shows every day (and more!)
of my 61 years. I often joke with people when they say "OMG--How do you
DO it? How do you care for so many sick ferrets & lose so much SLEEP?"
I say something like "Well, it`s pretty obvious I have lost some beauty
sleep, but I find it worth the trade :)" I am able to laugh at myself.
Laughter is GOOD! It`s keeping me alive (for now!)

It doesn`t matter if we`re black, white, or plaid.
It doesn`t matter if we`re male or female.
It doesn`t matter if we`re old, young,or what political party we
belong to.
It doesn`t matter if we`re fat or thin etc.

There is always a joke about it--and laughter is good, as long as there
is no intention to hurt someone. "Welfare Ferrets" singled out no one
in particular, but rather, a lot of people. We need to be able to laugh
at ourselves a bit, and not be so serious. (My own husband made $8,000
less last year than the previous year, and we have taken in many
ferrets whose moms & dads have lost their homes & jobs, etc-- so we
understand the crappy economy quite well.)

I Googled the words "able to laugh at ourselves" and this (below) among
many other things) came up.

After I read it, one of the ferrets left a present on the freshly
scrubbed floor. I told our guest "It`s a PRESENT! He made it for me,
all by himself!" She laughed & said "Yup. That`s what they DO!!!"

People like coming here. We feed them, educate them, and we laugh a
lot--even at ourselves.

Love, Zoo

A recent study conducted at Canadian financial institutions found that
managers who facilitated the highest level of employee performance used
humor the most often.

The scientific data is also proving that laughter is an integral part
of physical wellness. Dr. William Fry of Stanford University found that
laughing 200 times burns off the same amount of calories as 10 minutes
on a rowing machine. Another study found that after a bout of laughter,
blood pressure drops to a lower, healthier level than before the
laughter began. Laughter also oxygenates your blood, thereby increasing
energy level, relaxes your muscles and works out all your major
internal systems like the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

Furthermore, researchers are discovering that laughter also affects the
immune system. According to Dr. Lee Berk of the Loma Linda School of
Public Health in California, laughing makes it grow stronger, with the
body's T-cells, natural killer cells and antibodies all showing signs
of increased activity.

[Posted in FML 6819]