We’ve all heard that “Happy girls are the prettiest,” and “laughter is the best medicine,” but amidst these clichés that reek slightly of cheese, I admit that there is some cold hard truth to them.

So much truth, in fact, that I’ve realized I live my life around humor and choose relationships based on this quality. I didn’t fully realize that I held laughter to such a high regard until I was chatting with a friend about it. She asked me a cool question that I in turn threw back at her: “What character trait do you value most in a friendship?” Unsurprisingly enough (since we’re good friends), we both pegged “humor” at the top of the list.

And I got to thinking — it’s true, happy people draw me in. And at school or work I try to avoid the girl with the scowl on her face or the guy with permanent stink-eye — life’s just too short. And on the other end, teachers with the jokes in their back pocket engage me the most and honestly, good Instagram memes really make my day. Family time is always priceless when we cry-laugh at a Fallon re-run and aside from our mutual respect for our opinions on music, I’m almost positive me and my brother’s relationship is based soley on having the same sense of humour. It’s those late night, inaudible, silent-laughs ‘till our abs burn and our eyes cry that, for a few minutes, close our 8 and-a-half year age gap.

And come to think of it, the same is true for me and B. One of the (many) reasons I was first attracted to him was because of his sense of humour and the way he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Although I won’t tell him this, it’s the way he makes fun of me that I love the most, and the way he gets my playful side. I think we both understand that so much of life is already filled with stress and seriousness that when we’re together it’s fun to just make hideous funny faces and play fight. Just like with my best friends, I laugh until I cry with him at things that other people would probably not even find remotely funny, and I also firmly believe it’s what bonded us into the way we are. Being a weirdo is perfectly ok!

And likehttp://www.helpguide.org says,

Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Maybe this is why I’m never sick?