A few weeks ago, I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe. My face turned red. I started sweating. I couldn’t catch my breath. And I loved every minute of it.

When was the last time I laughed like that? The kind of laugh that takes over your whole body. The kind that hurts your stomach, makes tears stream down your face, and somehow leaves everyone around you laughing too.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that laughter isn’t just a reaction. It’s a resilience strategy.

Laughter Matters More Than You Think

Most of us think of laughter as something extra. A bonus. A nice thing that happens when life is going well. But research suggests the opposite. Laughter is what helps us navigate life when it gets hard.

Studies have found that laughter can:

• Lower stress hormones
• Trigger the release of endorphins
• Improve blood flow and cardiovascular function
• Reduce muscle tension
• Increase pain tolerance
• Improve mood and emotional regulation
• Strengthen social connection
• Improve immune function

In other words, laughter doesn’t just make us feel good. It helps our bodies recover from stress.

And if resilience is your ability to adapt, recover, and grow through challenges, then laughter deserves a place in the conversation.

Your Brain Loves Laughter

One of the most fascinating things about laughter is what happens inside your brain. Genuine smiles and laughter activate the brain’s reward centers, releasing feel-good chemicals that improve mood and increase motivation.

Laughter may not solve your problems. But it will change your relationship with them.

Laughter Creates Psychological Distance

One of the reasons humor is so powerful is that it creates space between you and whatever you’re dealing with. When we’re stressed, everything feels urgent, and every problem is magnified.

Humor helps us zoom out and shift our perspective.

As a parent, caregiver, business owner, and someone who has spent more than a few years navigating uncertainty, I’ve learned that some situations are simply too absurd not to laugh at—eventually.

Not immediately. Not while you’re in the middle of it. But eventually.

Sometimes laughter is what reminds you that the challenge is part of your life, not the entirety of it.

The Problem: We Stop Making Room for It

When life gets busy, guess what’s usually the first thing to disappear?

Playfulness. Humor. Lightness.

We become efficient, productive, and responsible. We also become exhausted.

We’ll laugh after we finish the project, solve the problem, pay the bill, raise the kids, help our parents, answer the emails, and finally get caught up.

The problem is that “caught up” is a mythical destination. It’s the adult version of spotting a unicorn. And while we’re waiting to arrive there, we slowly lose touch with the things that help us stay resilient in the first place.

Laughter Is Not Toxic Positivity

Let’s be clear. This isn’t about pretending everything is fine. Some things aren’t fine. Some situations deserve grief, frustration, anger, or sadness.

The goal is not to force yourself to be positive but to be able to hold space for both. The pain and the joy. The stress and the laughter.

Finding something funny doesn’t mean you’re ignoring reality. It means reality doesn’t get to have all the airtime.

How to Add More Laughter to Your Life

The good news? You don’t have to become a stand-up comedian. You just have to become intentional. A few simple ways to start:

1. Curate Your Comedy
   Fill your social media feed with things that make you laugh. Find comics that you enjoy and save their videos. Find funny things to read, watch, or do.
2. Spend Time with Funny People
   Make time for the people who make you laugh. Call them, text them, and eat lunch with them.
3. Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously
   Some of my biggest laughs are at myself. Walk into a wall? Laugh at it. Trip while you’re walking? Laugh.
4. Create More Opportunities for Play
   Play isn’t just for children. It’s for nervous systems. Games, hobbies, adventures, inside jokes, and silliness all count.

Your Assignment This Week

Make it your job to laugh. Watch something funny, call someone who makes you laugh, or share a ridiculous meme. Spend five minutes looking at videos of laughing babies if that’s what it takes. Here, try this one:

Not because laughter solves everything. But because life is hard enough without forgetting how to laugh at it.