You ever hear the one about how “The Three Stooges” cured cancer?
The story goes that after a particular man was diagnosed with the illness, he spent every night watching episodes of the comedic troupe. A few months later when he returned to his doctor, he was cancer-free.
I have no idea if this story is true (unlikely), or if it’s just an old wives’ tale (more likely). But I heard it repeatedly as a kid, and its message stuck:
Laughter is the best medicine.
Or, at least, it’s one medicine that can be leveraged in times of trouble.
I am currently dealing with a personal challenge. The details are irrelevant; just know that I’m not in any sort of grave danger.
Still, there’s fear, there’s anxiety and there’s doubt about what the future holds.
Which is why I’ve been trying to laugh as much as possible, as often as possible.
To elicit that laughter, my wife and I have turned to the classic sitcom, “Cheers.”
I watched the series as a kid and loved it. But I was too young to fully appreciate it. So in many ways, this second time around feels like the first.
Every night, we stream an episode or two on Netflix.
And every night, we giggle/howl at Sam and Diane’s banter, Coach’s comical innocence, Cliff’s random facts and Norm’s endless one-liners.
There’s no telling if any of it will impact my future fortunes.
But as I face down this challenge, if nothing else, I’m at least laughing my way through it.
And how can that hurt?
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This article originally appeared on 100 Naked Words.
Originally published at medium.com