THE “F” WORD –
FUNNY!
Most of us in today’s society and world feel like we spend time racing to meet deadlines, punching in and out of a time clock, worrying about things that “might” happen or “might not’ happen causing us to feel stressed, anxiety, fearful, overwhelmed and out of control. We forget that we need to stop and smell the roses that are before us every day. We get so wrapped up on in just getting through the day that our focus stays in survival mode.
Humor and laughter workshops are on the rise with corporations, hospitals, and agencies and with individuals – each wanting to help their staff, clients and patients to receive techniques and tools to better help with time management, optimum mental, emotional and physical
health. Humor is being used to help people remain sane in their world of insanity, in mending losses, and for adjusting when they have difficult and
painful experiences.
I want you to “find the humor” in your life and learn to laugh and be light hearted even
at work and even at yourself.
So I am going to ask the question: What is laughter and why don’t we use it more?
First, laughter is the manifestation of joy, mirth. It is an inward feeling that results in an outward expression. It is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, sneeze or yawn. In fact when we hear individuals laughing together, don’t we wish we knew what was so funny so we could laugh as well? Don’t we move closer to those individuals hoping that we might over hear what caused them to laugh?
So why don’t we use it more?
Let’s look for a minute at what makes us not laugh. Certain things like embarrassment, pain, anger, rejection, fear, criticism, stress, anxiety, attitude and beliefs about humor keep us from laughing. Some of us were taught that laughing was bad and heard things like “You need to grow
up” or “stop being so silly” and were given other messages like “wipe that smirk off your face right now” etc. Humor and laughing was associated with immaturity, and to be serious meant maturity.
Years ago – a court jester held a place of importance in the king’s court and house. The Bible states that a “merry heart doeth good like medicine” and another verse states “a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. So we are going to “maketh” cheerful countenance’s right now.
When laughter is shared – it binds people together, it increases happiness, intimacy, and emotional bonding. In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, laughter triggers healthy physical changes in the body, strengthening our immune system, boosting energy, diminishes pain, and protects us from the damaging effects of stress. It actually prevents heart
disease.
The best part of all of this is that it is free, easy to use and nothing works faster or more dependably to bring our mind and body back to balance. It lightens burdens inspires hope,
connects us to others and keeps us alert and focused.
Let’s look at the benefits of laughter on our mental health:
- Laughter dissolves distressing emotions. You
can’t feel angry or sad when you are laughing. - Laughter helps us to relax and recharge. It
reduces stress and increases energy¸ helping us to stay focused so we
accomplish more. - Laughter shifts perspective. It allows us to see
situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. It creates a
psychological disturbance which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. An emotional sharing builds strong bonds creating friendships and unites us during good
times and difficult times. It allows us to be spontaneous, to let go of defensiveness, release inhibitions, and express feelings.
So how do we in corporate more humor and play into our daily interactions? We begin with a conscious effort and the first step is with a smile.
- Smiling is the beginning of laughter. Like
laughter, it is contagious. We can do this without even having experienced a
funny event. - Make a positive vs. negative list and count your
blessings on the positive side. If your negative list is longer than your
positive list, that is a clue that you need to be doing more to bring laughter,
humor, fun and activities along with positive people into your life. - The third step is to move toward humor and
laughter. Sometimes things are shared in private or in small groups. Most of
the time people love to share their jokes or funny stories, experiences,
because it gives them the opportunity to laugh again and again. But what stops
them from doing so a lot of times is the reaction from another person to their
humor and/or experience. Well maybe that person was one of those that were taught
that humor means that you are not serious and so they don’t laugh much anyway.
So we can help them by repeating funny jokes, stories, and experiences. - Spend time with fun and playful people. These
are the people who laugh easily – both at themselves and life’s absurdities and
who routinely find humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and
laughter is contagious. - Bring humor into your conversations. Ask people,
“What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you today or this week or your
life?” One of the things that I always do working in the domestic violence and
addictions fields is to spend my lunch time eating, talking and laughing. - Create opportunities to laugh. Watch funny
video’s, go to a comedy club, read a funny book, seek out funny people, share
funny stories and jokes, host a game night with family/friends playing
charades, etc., go to laughter yoga classes, etc. - Don’t take yourself too seriously. Laugh at
yourself – we all do things that are laughable. - Surround yourself with notes and/or other
reminders to lighten up. - Keep things in perspective.
- Laughter makes you sexier! Research has shown
that people who laugh easily, have a positive attitude and create opportunities
to share this with others, are seen as “more attractive” and “sexier” than
those who don’t. (Scientific American Mind). - Pay attention to children and emulate them as
they are experts in play, taking life lightly, and laughter.
So ask yourself the following when things are stressful or upsetting:
- Is it worth really getting upset over?
- Is it worth upsetting others?
- Is it that important?
- Is it that bad?
- Is the situation irreparable?
- Is it really your problem?
Life brings challenges that can either get the best of us or become playthings for your imagination. You have a choice to be part of the problem and take yourself seriously and find it think outside the box. But when you play with the problem, you can transform it into the opportunity for learning.
