(dedicated to Steve Wozniak to whom laughter is important with a capital "I")

If you have lost your childish laugh, Arynne SIMONSAYS: Better get it back. By now your childish giggle should have turned into ahearty laugh . If it hasn't, here's why you should find it again and how to getit going...

Okay, real mendon't giggle. So what's it called when a guy responds with an out-loud, long-lasting laugh at a joke, comment, or bit of wild behavior. I call it an important personality quality. I think that infectious laughter of an uncontrolled kind is as important to the earth's atmosphere as gentle rain is for making grass turn one of the six shades of Irish green. Environmentalists may ignore my assertion and Greenpeace will not promote this idea, but in my opinion laughter will do what it takes to counter the effects of people-pollution. I have observed and promote as fact that a spontaneous giggle or hearty laugh is the solution to most human problems. And in addition (if youneed other reasons), laughter is a definite career enhancer and an effective management tool.

We all have known people who assert that they love to make others laugh but hardly ever respond with spontaneous laughter of their own. This is not fair; everyone enjoys making others laugh but if you don't own a loud, responsive laugh, you are withholding something that is satisfying to others. I know you don't consider yourself stingy but without a responsive laugh you are, indeed, stingy and holding back. I say learn to laugh and give it away.

During their early years,even members of the male species have a natural giggle. It's too often lost somewhere in the maturation process, and so I am now promoting the importance of grabbing back your giggle - or better still, evolving it into a hearty laugh filled with your own personality and sound effects.

I know for sure that young boys have giggles. My brothers and my son all had them. Myson's lasted until he was about eight years old. Let me tell you that it was a giggle that could break through any emotional wall. It decorated my existence all year round even more than twinkling Christmas tree lights did at holiday season. As youngsters, my brothers laughed noisily, keeping the family awake well into the late hours of the night. We all fell asleep to the sounds of their youthful, uncontrolled innocent expression of delight and hope. EdMacMahon giggled at Carson and guests, and Ed's laughter earned him mega bucks.Tell me what else he contributed to that show. Nada - just the infectious sound of his hearty laughter. And his happy explosions assisted Johnny's show to even greater heights of success. Eddie Murphy's frog-like laugh has become a well-recognized vocal signature. The best salesman I know (an ex-football player) is an authentic giggler and he-man, macho enough not to be embarrassedby his roiling laugh. He has of late become a successful corporate leader and loved by his people who are motivated by his jovial responsiveness. Being near this COO is rather like entering an air-conditioned lobby after taking a long walk down a blistering street in Tucson when the temperature gauge reads over108 degrees. Laughter is refreshing; a giggle invigorating. In my image of the perfect world, the many positive aspects of laughter are all welcome.

Perhaps you wondered why my son's giggle stopped when he turned 8 (or was it 9?) Although I don't remember accurately how old he was, I do remember very accurately why his infectious giggle disappeared and never had the chance to become a full-fledged laugh. The cause has kept me angry enough to think "revenge" through all these years.

In 3rd or 4th grade, my son had a teacher who manipulated her students into quiet by claiming a daily headache. That year, when we were out shopping for Christmas gifts, my son suggested buying his teacher a huge bottle of aspirin. We both laughed heartily at that idea. But I remember with great resentment that it was this teacher who, because of her bloody headaches, demanded that the boys stop laughing. She said that their raucous laughter worsened her pain and so she degraded their spirited sounds as sissified,and punished the kids who giggled.. She was a clod, a teacher who may have done lasting damage. If I could find her after all these years, I would give her an even worse headache. Luckily my son had the power to resist negative messages. As an musician and entertainer he tells jokes and laughs with a natural sound that mirrors his inner beauty. My son even giggles at his mother when I get too serious.

But too many folks, women as well as men, have lost their laughs somewhere during the years of intellectual polishing. How sad the loss is. Our world needs more people with an advanced ability to add ethereal sounds of laughter into the earth'satmosphere. Some people hike into green space to delight in the songs of birds; I go to comedy clubs to hear the music of laughter.

So my recommendation is to win back your giggle andevolve it into real laughter. Start by forcing it out by laughing noisily in comedy clubs or even when moderately funny jokes come across on your computer.Listen to the sound of others when they laugh out loud and imitate a giggle or laugh you like. Make friends with people who giggle and let them get you started. Actors learn to develop different laughs and so can you. There is a laugh record somewere out there - find it. And there are many ridiculous websites to urge your giggle to be discovered again. Stop complaining about the jokes you receive via email. Use them to get you laughing again. Once you have your giggle cornered, you're on the way to evolving a really wonderful laugh of your own.