Knowing more about yourself
will help you to develop a sense of humor and make you feel
comfortable with your funny side.
As your body needs to be
toned in order to stay in shape, so does the humor muscle.
The more you exercise your sense of humor, the more you
will have a sharper wit. This will take time but it is well
worth the work. Most of us can be reasonably amusing when
we are with friends and relatives, but there is always room
for improvement.
Nurture your sense of humor
and feed it with funny movies, songs, books, and television.
Go to the humor section of your local bookstore and see
the wonderful assortment of funny materials available. Start
collecting amusing jokes that you can use to help lighten
a moment. Just remember to keep it clean. Off-color jokes
will not win friends and influence people. Try reading the
amusing poetry of Ogden Nash. He found a way to laugh at
the world around him. For example, he wrote:
I think that
I shall never see
A poem as
lovely as a tree.
Indeed, unless
the billboards fall,
I will never
see a tree at all.
To help develop your sense
of humor, try reading humorous books. Dave Barry will have
you rolling in the aisles from the first sentence of any
of his many books. The same goes for anything that Erma
Bombeck wrote. Check your local library for humorous literature
and start finding the lighter side of life.
By surrounding yourself
with amusing materials, finding the funny side of everyday
life, and be funny, humor will soon become second nature.
Create an environment of humor in your life. Take those
problems that come your way and flip them to see the funny
side. Give those troubles a little spin and learn to laugh
at them. You will soon learn to handle those problems and
reduce stress.
Another way of nurturing
the funny side of your personality is to hang out with humorous,
lighthearted, and fun-loving people. Spending too much time
with overly serious folks is exhausting. The same goes for
people who are highly negative about everything. If you
will allow it, they will soon drag you down to their depressed
level. Refuse to become depressed and sad. Just say no!
Hanging out with fun-loving people will bring out your own
fun-loving side. Remember that people like those who laugh
a lot and obviously enjoy life. Be one of those folks.
You can laugh at yourself.
It is also okay to laugh at situations. It does not make
you look silly or foolish. When you can laugh at yourself,
it shows that you are secure about who you are and what
you want. It actually shows strength of character. Everyone
makes mistakes and it is perfectly all right to laugh at
yourself when you do. It shows other people that it is okay
for them to make mistakes. It is not the end of the world.
In relationships, humor
is extremely important and adds a completely new dimension.
When couples are happy together, the relationship blossoms
and it becomes rewarding to both parties.
Just remember that when
you are adding humor to an occasion, it must be appropriate.
Some people are offended when they hear raucous laughter
in a funeral. This presents a lesson for us -- not to take
life too seriously. After all, we will never get out of
it alive.
What keeps most people from
really loosening up and telling jokes is the fear that they
will mess up the story. They are afraid that they might
forget the punch line or tell the joke badly. A little rehearsal
is in order if you are not used to telling jokes. Stand
in front of a mirror and run through the story, bring out
all parts of the joke, and give that punch line some punch.
Rehearse that joke a couple of times. Try it out on close
friends and observe their reactions, before you test it
in a public venue. The next time you are in a party or out
with friends or family, relax and run the joke through your
mind before telling it aloud. Make sure you have not forgotten
any important parts to the joke. Take a deep breath and
just jump right in.
If no one laughs, it does
not mean that you did not tell the joke properly. Perhaps
you have found a group of folks that have a different sense
of humor. They did not get the joke and you have to explain
it. Of course, that ruins the entire joke. However, you
should not feel bad about it. Comedians call that kind of
group a "tough room." Try the joke on another
group. The same joke could have the next group rolling in
the aisles.
Develop your own unique
sense of humor by learning to play. Yes, you read that correctly.
You must learn to play, have fun, laugh, and act silly.
Develop a sense of fun and humor will follow, just as night
follows day.
Try visiting a toy store
to see the vast array of ways to have fun. Find a toy you
like or maybe one that you can remember from childhood.
Buy it and recall the fun you used to have playing with
it as a child.
The best way to learn how
to have fun is to hang out with kids, grandkids, or nieces
or nephews. Kids naturally know how to have fun. There is
a big difference between being childish and being childlike.
We will discuss more about kids and a sense of humor in
the next chapter.
Develop your sense of humor
and use it to your advantage. Use humor to create a happy
conclusion for yourself.
