A man is talking to the family doctor: “Doc, I think my wife’s going deaf.”

The doctor answers: “Well, here’s something you can try.

“Stand some distance away and ask her a question. If she doesn’t answer, move a little closer and ask again.

“Keep repeating this until she answers. Then you’ll know just how deaf she really is.”

The man goes home and says, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”

No answer, so he moves closer.

“Honey, what’s for dinner?”

Still no answer.

He repeats the question, until he’s standing just a few feet away.

Finally, she answers, “For the eleventh time, I said we’re having MEATLOAF!”

Laughing? No?

You’d feel better, even if you just cracked a smile.

Recent neuroscience and psychology studies show that laughter is a great panacea.  It strengthens our immune system, reduces physical effects of stress and provides physical and emotional release, according to “The Laughing Cure” on the about.com website.

In these stressful times, laughter beats punching walls (unless you like punching walls).

It’s really a form of internal exercise. Any day now, paid programming could come up with a video product: “The 15-minute Internal Exercises” which promises “better toned insides in 60 days.”         The secret to the workout?

Laughter.

A belly laugh works the diaphragm, abs and shoulders, leaving the muscles relaxed. Most importantly, it works the heart, distracting us from anger, guilt and other negative emotion, according to “The Laughing Cure.”

Lay offs, pay cuts, war and global warming. How can we not be stressed? We are so bogged down by such issues, we easily forget things that make us smile.

So take a minute or two to forget about the bad stuff, and think about things you’re truly grateful for, whether it is the support of loved ones or having a chance at life by coming into a new day.

And be vigilant about that “internal exercise.”

After all, as the poet E.E. Cummings once wrote, “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”