They are essential in helping us to find and maintain balance in life and career.However, they are slipping away from us. We have become far too serious. The only ones who still enjoy humor, laughter, fun and play to the fullest are young children.

Children tend to laugh an average of 400 times a day. For adults however, it is a totally different story. A recent laughter study shows that: 64 % of people smile less than 20 times a day at home 72 % smile less than 20 times a day at work

The International Congress of humor found that laughter is down 66 - 82% worldwide of what it was in the 1950's.

In the 1950's people laughed on the average 18 minutes a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 minutes a day.

In my research on 'humor and laughter' and in speaking to audiences about these topics, there is one important factor I discovered. Uncontrollable laughter always happens from interaction with others.

As a matter of fact, a recent study found that people laugh 6 more times in the presence of one person and 30 more times in a group of people.

You can get a chuckle from jokes you get on the Internet, but it is not the same as the belly jiggling, rib tickling laughter you get from when you interact with others.

Electronic media such as, television, computer, Internet, video, CD's, and audio equipment provide us with instant self-entertainment at the press of a button, where in the past people went outside their homes to entertain themselves.

Socializing with friends and relatives were much 'looked forward to' entertainment. This is no longer the case. As a matter of fact, the majority of people, especially where both partners hold jobs, can hardly find the time, nor do they have the inclination for socializing outside the home.

The workplace does not fare much better. Due to the pressures to produce more in the same ,or less hours available, and having to compete for example in the manufacturing sector with cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, humor and laughter in the workplace have eroded as well.

In these web pages you will discover the powerful impact of humor and laughter in health, healing, stress relief, workplace effectiveness, patients, health-care professionals and emergency staff morale and many more.

I have developed a real appreciation, perhaps closer to a passion for the powers of humor and laughter.This prompted me to write my first book titled 'The Power of Humor,'and subsequently my second book titled 'Kids say the doggonest things' based on the natural humor, laughter, play and fun that kids experience and which they freely share with parents, grandparents, and teachers.

Both books are available by visiting my web site: http://www.lightenupwithhumor.com

From writing about humor and laughter, people started to ask me to speak on them. To date, I have developed a number of 'humor-laughter' topics that I use in my keynote presentations.

For information on these topics, client and client comments lists, visit my 'Speaker' website at: http://www.lightenupwithhumor.com

I also invite you to subscribe to my monthly 'free e-zine' - 'The Humormeister's Forum' by clicking on the 'humor e-zine' navigation button on this web site.