We've all heard the saying "laughter is the best medicine," which can be directly related to the verse in Proverbs 17:22, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." I prefer not to have dried up bones, so I would rather have a joyful heart.

And in doing a little research about laughter, I found a ton of information about why a good laugh does a body good, from simply improving your mood to being a health benefit.

Since I am not a doctor, I can’t vouch for the better health thing, but I can tell you this, a good belly laugh makes me feel a lot better.

I say all of this to share a couple of stories with you. Several years ago, I had a boss who was big into laughter therapy, and yes, there is such a thing. She even held classes in which she would lead people through a laughter therapy session.

One afternoon she gathered me and other co-workers together and asked if we would like to participate in a short laughter session. Being a somewhat adventurous group, we all agreed and formed a circle in her office and began. At first there were just small, almost fake-sounding laughs coming from the group as we all found this a little unusual.

But, as we continued laughing louder and louder, we found ourselves consumed in this therapeutic moment. Maybe there was something to this after all.

While I never participated in another such session, I have always remembered this experience and the renewed sense of how much better I felt after letting out those big laughs.

Recently, my wife and I were running an errand and stopped at a local restaurant for dinner. Upon entering we realized there was some sort of party going on. It turns out it was a local softball team having a season-end meal together, something I assumed they did every year.

At first, all I noticed was how loud they were. But then I began to take note of all the laughter that was coming from their tables. It filled the whole restaurant, but it was far from annoying but rather refreshing.

These young people were indeed having such a good time, and likely unknown to them, they were creating a memory that would be with them their entire lives.

At some point one of their coaches passed our table and apologized for the noise. We quickly told her that an apology was not necessary. We found ourselves enjoying listening to how happy they sounded.

Their laughter was infectious and made our dining experience much more pleasant. While we all can enjoy more laughter in our lives, I think it is especially important for our younger folks to feel a sense of joyfulness in a world that often comes with it challenges.

I hope we all can experience a good belly laugh more often than perhaps we do, and I look forward to laughing with you somewhere down the backroads.