I know people who do not like being laughed at and are quick to take offense. What happens when you trip or fall, make a stupid remark, a mistake? How do you feel when people laugh at you? Are you quick to respond with a caustic tongue accompanied by verbal abuse saying, “Well, who in the hell do you think you are? I’d like to see you do better.” All the while, you puff up like a frog, your cheeks get hot and your hair bristles. Or maybe you even go so far as to come out swinging, shouting, “No one’s gonna laugh at me and get away with it. No sireeeeee.” Let me say, the madder we get, the funnier we become and deserve to be laughed at.

I happen to think my mistakes are the funniest of all. I am my own best audience. I’ve done some pretty stupid, embarrassing things. Like the time I went to a fashionable dance and got first prize for the best costume when I thought I was wearing my best dress. Or the times I’ve tripped, fallen, given wrong information, waved, yelled and honked at people I thought I knew and didn’t. Or the times I’ve congratulated a woman for her impending birth only to be told she wasn’t pregnant, just fat. I think it’s funnier when I pull a faux pas than you.

I think our fear of being laughed at began as a child. As babies, we loved being laughed at. It meant people loved us. As toddlers, we delighted in performing in front of our family and friends. We’d clomp around in Daddy’s big shoes, smear our face with Mom’s lipstick, march around the house with a pot on our head, stumble, fall. No matter what we did, everyone laughed and thought we were cute, adorable. And we thought their laughter meant they loved us.

But when we turned 5, our parents and friends stopped laughing. They told us we were clumsy and for us to pick up our feet and walk right. Suddenly, we were no longer cute or funny. Instead, everyone was laughing at us, not with us. And there’s a difference. Before long, the word rejection became embedded in our mind. So, we invented new ways to get attention. We taught ourselves to pout, cry, get angry, ridicule and intimidate others.

Whoever was the first to say that laughter was the best medicine in the world knew what they were talking about. Laughter does heal the body. It’s impossible to laugh and feel miserable all the time. Try it! Look in the mirror when you’re feeling blue, depressed and down-hearted, make a funny face and I guarantee you’ll laugh. Suddenly, you’re feeling well and happy again.

Anything beautiful brings a smile to our mind, heart and face. Laughing is the key to opening up the door to our subconscious mind and lifting us up mentally as well as physically When you’re laughing, you can actually feel the cells in your body come alive. Frowns accompanied by depression and grief cause the cells in our body to droop, to sag, and it affects our immune system drastically, making us susceptible to all kinds of physical ailments.

In contrast, laughter makes our cells sparkle. Every time we laugh, we are not only healing ourselves, but we are healing other people, nations, and also having a positive effect on the planet.

The quickest way to get your mind off your troubles is to start singing. Singing diverts the mind and happies up the mind. No matter how bad you may feel or how bad things are, just hearing yourself sing magically dispels all fears, pain and anxieties. So start singing and don’t stop until the child in you appears giggling and happy once again.

(McDowell lives in Napa.)