Love Choice 101: George Clooney, happiness and laughter (a video laugh)

November 9, 12:22 AMLove and Marriage ExaminerRita Watson

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  AP Photo/ Agostini (George Clooney)

George Clooney, who is often pictured as a somber man, is laughing a lot these days.  It seems that his new girlfriend is bringing him joy. It's good to be George Clooney - CNN.com

We don't know where she stands on the humor scale, but we do know that men want women who laugh at their jokes.  And women prefer men who make them laugh. Sounds like the perfect marriage.

In the world of love and marriage, laughter should always be a top choice.

A Mood Booster: laughter heals

CNN reported recently from the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Brighton, England.  

“Over the course of history, women actively look for signs that their man is intelligent, and I believe the ability to actively judge the situation and pull off a joke and make you laugh is an intelligent feat,” said Kristofor McCarty, a researcher at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, and author of the study, in an e-mail. Women, men, and laughter    

Studies reported by Lee Berk, M.D., a neurologist at Loma Linda University in California, and his team, as well as other researchers, show that laughter prompts changes in the body that may help the immune and endocrine systems to function better.  Laughter increases the number and activity of cells that help us fight disease and decreases stress-related hormones.

Laughter is contagioius

The nice thing about laughter is that it’s contagious, according to Robert Provine, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland. When you hear other people laugh, you tend to laugh too. Provine suggests that laughter does something special to our brains to trigger the laugh sounds in us.

 In research released this past December, happiness is contagious.  In a social network, happiness spreads among people up to three degrees removed from one another. That means when you feel happy, a friend of a friend of a friend has a slightly higher likelihood of feeling happy too.   The lesson is that taking control of your own happiness can positively affect others, says James Fowler, co-author of the study and professor of political science at the University of California in San Diego.”  Happiness.social.network  

In love and marriage -- three thoughts

• Share laughter
• Make love often
• Be forgiving

Research findings in the medical literature indicate that laughter has healing properties.  So if you are really not in the mood for some passionate sex, find a reason to share a laugh or click on this You Tube video. The reporter cannot stop laughing 

Two more thoughts on Happiness:

• My piece yesterday: Happiness 101: worrying women and Today interview with Matt Lauer
• And one from our West Palm Beach Examiner: Three things you can do today to increase happiness today

Copyright 2009 Rita Watson/ All Rights Reserved