This New Year, Resolve to Laugh More

Here’s an end-of-the-year slap that will hopefully be a shot in the arm for all of us.

One of the Members on The Oxford Club’s Austrian Wealth Retreat in November introduced me to his wife as “the humor at The Oxford Club.” I had to laugh because there are a lot of people who don’t find me funny at all – my ex-wife and most liberals, to name just a few.

But if the truth be known, I love to laugh and make people laugh. So more laughter is my New Year’s wish for all of you.

As the years pile on, so do the aches and pains, disappointments, let-downs, and family issues (that relative who always seems to be in some kind of distress about something) – you know what I’m talking about.

The weight of life…

As that weight builds, there seem to be too many days when we don’t feel much like laughing. And that’s a real shame because laughter has been shown to cure and improve all kinds of things, especially for us gray hairs.

In a recent study of 60- and 70-year-olds, laughter and humor were found to increase memory recall by as much as 100% compared with a non-funny group.

The stress hormone cortisol was lower in people who laughed and watched funny programs.

Another study, from Vanderbilt University, reported that laughter can burn more calories, lower stress and protect against heart disease.

The conclusion of that study was that everyone, especially seniors, should find ways to incorporate laughter into their daily routine.

There are many ways to do that.

Social interaction. Being social should always be at the top of a gray hair’s to-do list.

Exercise groups. I play tennis three days a week with a bunch of friends, and we laugh almost constantly at our tennis abilities, or lack thereof.

Funny TV shows and movies. My better half Eileen and I can watch Animal House, Die Hard and Groundhog Day over and over and laugh hysterically each time.

But no matter, find what makes you laugh and make it a part of your day. If it only boosts your recall 20%, it will be worth the effort. And what’s more fun than laughing?

So my wish for the new year for all of you is that your life is full of laughter and that we’re all here next year at this time to share our funny stories and humorous experiences from 2019.

If you’ll put laughter in your day, I’ll do my best to find more funny gray hair stories for this segment, and we’ll both have a great 2019.

See you on the other side, and Uber if you go out this season. Don’t drink and drive.

Good investing,

Steve