I Laugh Therefore I Am (Alive)

by Rick London

There are numerous reasons why we laugh and use humor in our lives. This impulse goes wayback to the prehistoric days (I have read). Since that was a few years before my time (but unfortunately not too many years before my time), I will have to take archaeologists word for this phenomena.

I remember loving to laugh as a child. My mom was the “sense of humor proprietor” of our home,and making her laugh, was especially fun, as she was a tough audience. Especially when I was in trouble, which was a majority of the time.

Though the basic principals of laughter are the same as they once were, in a nutshell, one person’s tragedy is another person’s comedy, aka slipping on a banana peel, still holds true to a certain degree. But audiences have gotten tougher, savvier, and more demanding, and rightfully they should be.

We live in a different world than our ancestors. We suddenly woke up in a world that was notquite as predictable as we were taught it would be in grade school. To say “the world has gottenmore dangerous” or “the world’s gone crazy” has become the commonplace “talk of the town.

We have more anxiety, more worries, stranger happenings, our generation has experienced everything from Woodstock to Dolly The Sheep, when I say “our”, I mean the fringe side of the baby boomer generation. We are survivors to a certain degree. We have seen more wars thanany generation before us.

So we can laugh or cry. Or stay ambivalent. Laughing does not mean we are endorsing it.

Humor is a way humans can cope under circumstances that seem to have spun out of control, which, frankly, today, happens in most of our lives now and again.It is easier to cry. And it is ok and healthy to cry. But to leave humor and laughter out of one’s life can make it bleak and miserable. People go to therapy. Just because one has a sense of humor about life, does not make them immune from psychological services. But you can be rest assured it can be a deterrent for many. After all laughter, like running or walking is therapeutic. We release endorphins when we laugh, walk or run. Imagine doing all three at the same time.

I remember years ago working in my father’s real estate business. It was a thriving business, but one without much laughter. I was the youngest Realtor there, and I felt my job was to (continue) to be the class clown, as I had been in school. It was a nice, but staid bunch of folks. Basically, as in mostsales situations, though there may be some altruism involved, money, or the bottom line is the focus.Don’t get me wrong, I like money as much as the next guy. But I have keenly observed that, though there are plenty of very happy wealthy people, when people get into a business simply to make money, they end up highly disappointed. Hence I found myself surrounded by a lot of disappointed people who really needed some laughter and humor.

Finally, after many years of soul searching, I left the world of sales, and struck out on my own. I had read a biography on Walt Disney, and how he launched his Magic Kingdom. I loved cartoon humor, still do, am not a great artist, so recruited a team of excellent illustrators and launched my own cartoon. That was a decade ago. I still love doing it. Not only do I get to (occasionally) give myself a chuckle, but sometimes others as well. Doing what you love, whether its making people laugh or not, will make you happier inside, and those around you seem happier. And the money will follow (hopefully, one day…it better!!)

Rick London is a freelance writer/cartoonist, entrepreneur, and founder of the Internet’s most visited cartoon site, Londons Times Cartoons.  He operates several mega-gift stores featuring his licensed images which he ships worlwide such as www.ricklondonfunnygifts.info

The Zen Of Marathon Running & Complex Carbohydrates

I was not a very athletic kid growing up. So when I reached adulthood, I discovered the gym and running to make up for it. Then I went to the extreme and ran several marathons. I thought I was “really something special”.

What I would not learn into about three weeks of training for the first marathon, is that carbohydrate loading, as they used to call it, was the key to not getting fatigued. And complex carbohydrates were the type to eat or drink.

These little “healthy gems” are found in vegetables, nuts, seeds and grain. Some examples of foods high in starchy complex carbohydrates include bread, cereal, rice, pasta, potatoes, dry beans, carrots and corn. All grains contain complex carbohydrates, but whole grains — such as whole wheat pasta — are better for you as they are higher in fiber.

One of the best sources of complex carbohydrates is dried beans. They don’t need to be combined with anything to give you complex carbohydrates. Dry beans do need to be combined with grains in order to provide vegetarians and vegans with all of the forms of protein needed for good health, but combining dietary carbos are not necessary.

Three or more single sugar molecules linked together to make up complex carbohydrates. Long chains of sugar molecules are called starches and they serve as the storage form of energy in plants. Branched complex carbohydrates called cellulose form the structural components that give plants their shape.

Starches digest very easily, but your body doesn’t digest cellulose, which is an important component of dietary fiber.

Grains and cereal products all contain complex carbohydrates. Whole grain products also contain fiber, while processed flours have had the bran and husks (thus most of the fiber) removed. Fiber is important for digestive health and can keep the tummy full for hours.

Complex carbohydrates should be a major component of your diet; about half of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates – mostly from grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables.

Simple carbohydrates should be used more sparingly.

Best Major Depression Therapy: Dogs

Though it is not something of which I am particularly proud, I struggled with major depression since age thirteen. It may be even further back than that, that is my first memory of “feeling different”. I am now fifty three.

Of course I did not even know it was depression, and even if I had discovered it was, it would have been hidden, as, in the polite society of rural Mississippi, at the time, one did not see a therapist or psychiatrist and remain in society. He or she was hidden in the closet. Today things have changed and there are many modern- day state-of-the-art recovery programs and mental health clinics in the region. Alas, mum is still the word. I now live in southern California, where, at social functions, therapy and recovery are often a common them at social functions and events.

It was not until late in life, when I discovered a stray dog named “Thor” that I learned about alternative therapy. I had often heard that owning an animal can relieve depression and even lower blood pressure, but the dramatic changes were yet to be seen for the first few months of owning Thor. I noticed I wanted to get out more and walk him, as he loved that activity. This in itself lifted my depression. A long walk can, in fact, increase endorphins in the system.

Thor introduced me to people. People will open up to a cute dog faster than they will a human, hence they open up to the human as well. Thor loved people. I had owned dogs in the past, but Thor was my first rescue dog. The jury is out whether he rescued me or I rescued him. I did not adopt him from a shelter, but surely would have had I found him at one. He showed up in the rural Mississippi woods with a pack of two other dogs. He was the sickest of them, obviously abused and/or hit by a vehicle as he limped, and was a matted ball of fur. A vet friend took him home and put him on drips, shaved him, and gave him to me.

I researched and put him on the b.a.r.f diet. (bones and raw food). I put him on the same herbal tinctures I was taking. He never had another vet bill for a decade and lived to be nearly twenty two. He had ten very happy years as did I; mostly depression-free. Both of us were quite depressed when we found each other. He passed away nearly a month ago today. I continue to grieve over Thor but feel soon I will be ready for another rescue dog. I will visit the shelter. It is not completely selfless; I understand fully now the meaning of “they do much more for us than we do for them). A rescued dog remembers. He/she gives unconditional love and we get that gift to pass on to other people. I can’t begin to tell you the difference in the way I am treated now by other people, and, the way I treat them. I do my best to do what Thor taught me; that is, love them unconditionally. He saw me as one of God’s creatures; to him I was a god, and now I see all living creatures as part of God’s creation. I never was that religious and am not now. But how can I not be spiritual. Thor helped cure my incurable depression.

Rick London is an e-entrepreneur and cartoonist. Many of his cartoon products are dog-related and a percentage of each sale goes to benefit various animal causes. He is also the founder of the Internet’s top cartoon site, Londons Times Comics.

Several of his stores that carry dog-related cartoons are Rick Londonwear www.ricklondonwear.com ,  The Rick London Collection www.ricklondoncollection.com and Londons Times Superstore www.LTSuperstore.com