Studies show that laughter is something that makes you feel calm or relaxed for both physical and psychological wounds though it may seem futile to laugh in the face of pain and fear.

　　When Dan Rather interviewed comedian Bill Cosby just one week after his son，Ennis，was killed，Cosby said，"I think it is time for me to tell people that we have to laugh.You can turn painful situations around through laughter.If you can find humor in anything，you can survive it."

　　Call it a flashlight for dark times：laughter just seems to adjust the attitude better than anything else.Inspirational speaker Steve Rizzo recalls a TV interview with an injured firefighter a few days after 9·11.The man had fallen more than 30 stories in one of the towers and had broken a leg.Everyone was crying，and the reporter asked，"How is it that you've come out of this alive？" He looked at her and without missing a beat，said，"Look，lady，I'm from New York and I'm a firefighter；that's all you need to know."

　　"Everyone laughed though the laughter was only a couple of seconds，" says Rizzo."Sometimes that's all you need to catch your second breath.Laughter gives you that couple of seconds.You're sending a message to your brain，and the message is：If you can still laugh even a little among the pain，you are going to be OK."

　　Of course，there is a difference between laughing off a serious situation and laughing off the fear that results.The firefighter was doing the latter，states Rizzo，the author of Becoming a Humor Being，and so should we."If there is anything we have learnt from 9·11，it's how precious life really is，" Rizzo says."We have to send a message that our spirit won't die.One important thing that unites us is our ability to laugh."