Humour may be the most powerful stress reliever we have. By laughing frequently and taking a lighter view of life, you will also find that life is much more enjoyable and fun. Medical experts agree that laughter enhances the immune system and promotes improved physiology. Recent research has also confirmed that laughter:
- Enhances blood flow to the body’s extremities and improves cardiovascular function.
- Plays an active part in the body’s release of endorphins and other natural mood-elevating and pain-killing chemicals.
- Improves the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to internal organs.
Here are some tips to help you get more laughter in your life.
Learn to laugh at yourself. Recognise how funny some of your behaviour really is — especially your shortcomings or mistakes. We all have little idiosyncrasies or behaviours that are unique to us that we can recognise and enjoy. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Inject humour any time it’s appropriate. People love to laugh. Get a joke book and learn how to tell a good joke. Humour and laughter really make life enjoyable.
Find a cartoonist you find funny, and follow him or her. Humour is very individual. What I may find funny, you may not, but cartoonists, such as those in the newspapers, have something for everybody. Bookmark their website or friend them on Facebook.
Watch comedy shows or videos. It’s amazingly easy to find something funny on television, such as a sitcom or comedy special, on YouTube. Put “funniest movie” or “funniest video” or “funniest TV” or “funniest comedian” into your browser to start collecting sites and ideas.
Take a friend to a funny film. Most people love to go to the movies and especially enjoy a good comedy. When people see a funny film together, they find themselves laughing harder and longer than if they had watched it by themselves. We all feed off each other’s laughter during and after the movie. Also, laughing together helps build good relationships.
Play with children. Kids really know how to laugh and play. If you don’t have any of your own, spend time with your grandchildren nieces, nephews, or neighbourhood children of families you know well. Help out at your church’s Sunday School and at children’s events. Children make grownups laugh and smile.
Go to the theatre or comedy club. Laughing with other people is much easier and more infectious. Get a group together and have an outing to a pub with an “open mike” evening.
Ask “What’s funny about this situation?“ Many times we find ourselves in seemingly impossible situations, but if we can laugh about it, somehow they become enjoyable or at least tolerable experiences. Often we hear people say, “This is something you’ll look back on and laugh about.”
Well why wait? Find the humour in the situation and enjoy a good laugh immediately.
