7 ways to find humour in life’s situations

When was the last time you laughed out loud? We are not counting the LOL’s or the emojis you generally distribute online. We’re talking full-throated, no-holds-barred laughter here… the kind that really peps your spirits and brightens things up. That brings the tears flowing from your eyes… and makes you realise that life’s worth living!

Laughter is not just for making you feel good in the moment. Scientifically speaking, laughter works in two ways. It reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, adrenaline, and dopamine and increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters. This means, the more you laugh, the more immune you become to the effects of stress.

But how can we bring humour into our everyday lives? Here are simple ways that’ll go a long way in keeping you happy and may we add, in this stressful life, sane as well?

Laugh at yourself

Begin with YOU. Learn to take things with the humour it deserves. We don’t of course mean to do this in a self-deprecating way. When you do something silly, laugh at yourself! If you look at even the embarrassing incidents in a positive and fun way, it’ll do a whole lot of good to perk you up! Believe us; laughing at yourself can be really entertaining if you want it to.

Watch a funny movie

When the going gets tough, watch a comedy series or movie on TV or DVD. Do it with your children or with your spouse. Laughing together decreases stress to a large extent. The sound of laughter is infectious. It can draw people to the mood and make it an occasion to remember. So, go ahead, crack up together!

Seriously funny

Have you tried to find humour in a serious situation? Impossible? No. Not at all. When faced with something serious, try hard to see the good in them. But make sure that you don’t laugh at all the wrong and inopportune moments. Laugh only where you feel your sense of humour will lighten the mood and bring some sort of respite from a problem that is looming large.

Be around children

Children are great stress busters and laughing with them is enough to drive the blues away. When you have free time, spend them with your kids and their friends, share a joke or two, simply tickle each other or play some fun games. Just having children around you with their unbridled enthusiasm and ‘not a care for the world’ laughter brings positivity and a renewed sense of well-being.

It’s comical

Begin your day with the comic strips in the newspaper. There can be no better start to the day. Garfield, Peanuts, The Archies will make you giggle and put a smile on your face every day. Do read a book of jokes whenever you feel down… it will certainly help you feel better.

Humour, practically!

Play safe, harmless practical jokes on friends from time to time. What’s life without a little fun played on others. This way, you can help people out by helping them realise it’s okay to laugh at themselves. But again, it depends on the people you’re dealing with. If they are the kind who’ll take silly, harmless pranks sportingly, go ahead and do it!

The laughter list

Finally, discover what makes you laugh. See what strikes your funny bone as we all tend to laugh at different things. If you want, write them down, have a look later and laugh to your heart’s content. Sometimes, we do remember what happened in the past that made us laugh. It makes our present a joy-filled one too!