Essential skills in life: Humor

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road." - Henry Ward Beecher

Life is a roller coaster. There are ups, there are downs. We never know what the next day might bring us. It’s very important, in my humble opinion, that you should try to approach each day with a positive attitude and humor.

Humor? Wait, what? Yes, you read that right, with humor. Life is bitter as it is, some might say, and this is why is important to have the ability to laugh at your wrong doings and continue.

Sense of humor is a great ability to have. While humor means the quality of being amusing or comic, it also is a state of mind. Having humor is a state of mind. You can turn it off and on when you want.

Why is humor important?

Humor triggers laughter and smiles. And this causes our brain to release endorphins. Endorphins are the hormones responsible with happiness. They lower the stress and ease the pain. This is why we use the expression “Laugh it off”, because even a fake smile can release endorphins.

Having a good sense of humor will help you strike great conversations. It will help you bond with your friends and become more attractive in the front of your peers. As I mentioned above, laughter trigger happiness. Who wouldn't want to be around someone that makes them happy?

It's often said that laughter is the best medicine, because of the many health benefits that offers. Beside lowering the stress, it helps us to relax, is protecting the heart and boosting our immune system. It may help you even live longer.

How do develop a sense of humor?

We saw that humor is important in our lives. But, how to develop it? First of all, I think everyone has a sense of humor. But we are triggered by different types of humor. We laugh and smile at different jokes and situations. We are humans, we are different, it’s normal.

But if you want to develop this ability, to be more funny and strike great laughs from your peers, here are some things that you could do.

Study comedy. Watch stand-up comedy. Read books about comedy. And don’t watch or read just for the laughs. Study. Look at how the joke is created, how the build-up is made, how the punchline is delivered. Study and immerse yourself in humor. This way you will learn how to deliver your jokes.

Speaking of jokes. Learn some of them. And then tell them to your friends. Try to apply what you learned from your “study sessions”. It’s ok if you act like a parrot for a while. You are in the learning process. Then you can go to the next step.

Be spontaneous. Learn how to be witty. Make fun of situations. I don’t recommend using sarcasm all the time, although funny till one point, you might look like a smart-ass over time. Most important it’s to learn when to deliver your jokes. Although laughter is good, there is a time for everything.

Practice. And once again, we return to practice. As with other skills, you have to practice your humor. Learn from your experience, what works and what not. In time, with enough practice, you will develop a great sense of humor and people will die of laughter at your jokes.

Remember that some even though you might have a great sense of humor, some people around you might not. Don’t be discouraged about this. Research shows that 6 out of 7 dwarves aren’t happy.

"A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Image source:Pixabay

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This is Day 16 of the 30 days writing challenge during January 2017 launched by @dragosroua. If you want to join the challenge, here's the introductory article.

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Essential skills in life is a series of articles regarding skills that I consider everyone should try to develop them. Some of them I have, some of them I'm working on. Please follow me @sstefan if you want to check the next post of the series.