Today's business and health care climate may not be pleasant. Cutbacks, pay cuts and layoffs do not make anyone's job easy. But that does not mean that the humor need stop.

Humor does not diminish the pain - it makes the space around it get bigger.

Now, a recent study from cardiologists at the University of Maryland, has shown that laughter may have a beneficial effect on the heart.

When we are dealing with death we are constantly being dragged down by the event: Humor diverts our attention and lifts our sagging spirits.

When we can find some humor in our upsets, they no longer seem as large or as important as they once did.

The lesson adults can learn here is that the world is filled with things for our enjoyment.

It is still not clear from this study how laughter can directly help the heart but other studies have shown that laughter is beneficial for every system in the body.