My Two Cents

by Michele Tester

Good For The Soul

It is said that laughter is the best medicine. I’m a firm believer in that. A good laugh heals the body and mind; add old friends to that, and you have a winning recipe for the rejuvenation of your soul, the lifting of your spirits, and the warming of your heart.

I recently got together with two very old friends of mine. We all went to junior high school together—way back before they started calling it middle school. I think they should have left it the way it was, but I digress.

We all three met down at the beach and spent two days together. We shared old stories, reminisced about people we knew in junior high school, talked about our children, discussed our lives now and our dreams of the future, gave each other encouragement and advice, and, most importantly, we laughed…a lot. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much and so hard that my jaw started to ache.

That first day we were together, we went out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in a hotel. My one old friend proceeded to try to embarrass me on the elevator. That sure brought back memories. It’s not hard to embarrass me, and she knows it! We had a good laugh at that one, well, after it was over, I did. The second day we were together, we sat on the beach from early morning to late night. My other old friend commented, “I’ve never sat on the beach this long!”

We are bonded by years of friendship, by old memories that only we can share, by jokes that don’t make sense to anyone else but us. We share a history. A deep-rooted bond. And time apart vanishes quickly the second we are together.

After our time together, and we had to say goodbye, I noticed something. I felt lighter. I felt rejuvenated. I felt at peace.

Old friends, I believe, provide a comfortable space where you don’t have to explain who you are. They already know. They know the younger version of you.

These old friends of mine are the living bridge to my past, to my youth, to my memories. And when I’m around them, I feel good, I feel accepted, I feel I am home.

I do believe that laughter is the best medicine for what ails you. I’m going to add to that my belief that old friends are the cure. Mix the two, and you’re golden.

It’s been proven that a good laugh releases feel-good chemicals in our brain, lowers stress, boosts immunity, eases anxiety, and relaxes tense muscles. Laughter is a natural stress-reliever and mood-booster.

So, call up that old friend of yours, the one that knew you way back when. Make a plan to get together.

I am uncertain about a lot in life, questions that I still have no answers to. But I do know this: Old friends are good for the soul.

That’s just my two cents.