How Humor Can Improve Your Health, Mood, and Relationships
Humor has long been overlooked for its ability to improve the quality of life. In this post, I explore the benefits of laughter and how it can improve your health, mood, relationships, and work performance.
Humor is a great way to help improve your health. It can increase your self-confidence, improve your mood, make you feel happier, and improve your relationships.
Laughter reduces stress, improves your immune system, reduces cholesterol levels, and helps fight off infections. Studies have shown that laughing has even helped people recover from surgery quicker and improve their overall health.
If you want to start using humor more often, here are some tips:
Write a short funny story (as opposed to a long joke).
Tell jokes on social media and other places.
Watch comedies.
When you tell jokes, make sure to end with a punchline.
Listen to comedy podcasts.
Keep a daily list of jokes.
Be careful to avoid any language or jokes that might offend other people.
If you have trouble finding jokes, try watching movies with a strong comic component.
STEP 1: Make Sure Your Relationship is Strong
One of the reasons why you might be reluctant to laugh is the fear that it will break down your relationship. I wouldn't recommend laughing too much on dates or within the first few days of a new relationship.
Humor also tends to go along with emotional closeness, so if you're feeling tense or nervous, your body may respond negatively to laughter.
However, if you already have a solid relationship, there's no reason to worry about your relationships breaking down. Laughter helps reduce stress, and it's also a great way to strengthen bonds with others.
STEP 2: Laugh at Yourself
Most comedians make fun of themselves. The irony is that you don't have to look very hard to find someone who has made more than they can handle.
If you can laugh at yourself, you can also learn to laugh at yourself when others make mistakes or make less than stellar decisions.
Humor is great for teaching people to accept failures as part of life.
STEP 3: Find the Funny
It's tempting to make up funny stories, but you should try to create your own. There's no shortage of funny things that happen in everyday life.
Funny ideas come from everywhere, whether they're in books, comics, movies, or television shows. You can also find humor in old newspapers and magazines. You'll be amazed by what you find.
You can even watch movies and sitcoms for ideas. Many famous comedians have made their name by riffing off a movie or TV show.
STEP 4: Make Laughter a Part of Your Daily Routine
One of the most important things you can do is to get a little bit of humor into your day. You don't need to laugh for a full 5 minutes each day, but try laughing on every level.