George Gilbert’s Motivational Humor

This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for… My mother turns 84 this month and I believe laughter has played a vital role in her longevity. At 84 she is still very active despite having been diagnosed with Lung cancer and having a lobectomy (my mother said be sure and spell lobectomy correctly, “I don’t want them to think I had a lobotomy.”) earlier this year. She has made a full recovery and is in good health and spirits. Mom walks a mile every day and has a full social life. Laughter and humor has kept her young and helped in her recovery.

Throughout her life she has been surrounded with laughter and has a great sense of humor. Not only has she made audiences laugh for more than 60 years, but she has been able to find the humor in her daily life. Even though laughter can help prevent many illnesses, we occasionally undergo health challenges in our lives. Laughter and humor can help us cope with these challenges. When she was diagnosed with the cancer we didn’t panic and start a pity party. We instead immediately began laughter therapy. We still have to rely on medical science, but attitude plays an important role in the treatment and recovery of a patient. Fortunately, we didn’t have to find the humor in this alone, her surgeon was very optimistic and in his own way humorous. Had he been emotionless and strictly clinical like some physicians I believe her recovery would have been much more difficult.

When going through a challenge in your life (physical or emotional) it is important to find something to laugh about. It is also important to surround yourself with those that keep a positive attitude and make us laugh. My advice to you is to find good-natured humor to laugh at and laugh often. We all have our own sense of humor to fall back on, whether we use it or not is our own responsibility.

Growing Older Can Be a Laughing Matter. November 24, 2004 my mother, Tulara Lee, turns 82 years of age. She is still very active and I believe it is because she has been around humor and laughter most of her life. She was 19 years old when she entered show business and has been making people laugh all these years. She still continues to speak with me on the importance of laughter. It seems comedians live longer. Comedian Milton Berle lived in to his nineties. George Burns and Bob Hope lived to one hundred. Maybe it’s because they surrounded themselves with laughter. I can’t think of any other profession where people still continue to work into their late eighties and early nineties. 

According to Dr. Thomas Pearls, director of the New England Centenarian Study, those living to 100 years “handle emotional stress incredibly well.” The centenarians studied had “lost spouses, endured hardships, even survived the horrors of the holocaust. Yet they were generally optimistic and, and in most cases, funny.” He said, “They use humor all the time.” 

More and more doctors are realizing the importance of humor and health. The following interview is with Beckie Larson, a very special person, who works at the United Way of Southern Nevada.

George: What is your occupation?

Beckie: Front Office Coordinator for United Way of Southern Nevada and a mom to 6, grandma to 1, mother in law to 1 and wife to one.

George: What was your health Challenge?

Beckie: I was having strong heart palpitations and chest pain along with chronic headaches. I went to Urgent Care, spent a few nights in the hospital two different times, and finally was scheduled to see a cardiologist who ran more tests. I have been on more treadmills for stress tests and had more sticky things stuck to me than any one human should have ever. Test after test came back normal. No heart attack, no heart disease…nothing. They chalked it up to stress.

George: What did the Doctor Prescribe for you your treatment?

Beckie: After the doctors ran numerous tests and decided it was “just stress”, the cardiologist told me to laugh more often, to make time for myself, to learn to be a kid again, get some books and tapes on laughter and stress management.

George: What type of humor did you use?

Beckie: I started out by going and buying some bookos. “Relax - You may only have a few minutes left” by Loretta LaRoche was the first book I read, and still read it now and again. It taught me to stop taking everything so seriously. I’ve always been a big fan of Who’s Line Is It Anyway? and watch it every night. Even the reruns make me laugh.

George: What is your favorite comedy? Who is your favorite comedian?

Beckie: Harry and the Hendersons. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. The kids and I watched it over and over again. It was just a simple movie, fun for all ages. I didn’t have to think of analyze anything, you just watched, laughed and enjoyed. I love Rita Rudner, and even though she has shows here in Vegas, I’ve never seen her live. She just seems so down to earth, talks about “real Life” things, things that are close to home, sometimes too close to home.

George: Have you noticed a change?

Beckie: I’ve definitely noticed a change. I don’t get as many headaches, palpitations have decreased and no chest pain for the last year. I try and always remember to let the little things go and to laugh often, especially when driving home during rush hour traffic, when or I hear, “but MOM…” For the 90th time in an hour span. Laughter got me through some really rough times when my mom passed away from lung cancer and I try and instill in my children that they need to lighten up and not take everything so seriously. Life is just too short. So on my wall at home is a plaque that says: Talk Much, Live Well and Laugh Often.

We could all follow Beckie’s doctor’s perscription: laugh more often, make time for yourself, learn to be a kid again.