6 Ways to Bring More Humor and Joy to Your Life

“A day without laughter is a day wasted,” Charlie Chaplin said wisely.

In my last blog, I discussed all the benefits of bringing some humor into your life. Laughing, or even simply smiling or feeling amused, benefits our health and increases our happiness.

But as we all know, day-to-day life drags us down and a good laugh can seem a million miles away. So how can we lighten up and bring more humor into our lives?

Here are a few suggestions:

• You know what tickles your funny bone. Watch a silly sitcom, listen to a stand-up comedy routine, or laugh at an absurd situation in your life. For example, I’ve started collecting jokes about getting older, pictures of animals that crack me up, and menopausal musings on my Pinterest account. That way, I have something handy for a quick laugh when I’m having a way-too-serious day.
• Unleash your silly. Act like a kid and tell a silly joke, wear a silly hat, make a silly face, or just think silly thoughts. I saw this quote, “Live a life of love, honesty, appreciation, kindness, and strength. Sprinkled with a little silliness.” Yeah! Let’s bring silly back!
• Share your humor with others. Everyone needs more laughter in their lives, so spread it around. Memorize something that makes you laugh – make it tasteful and be sensitive to what’s not funny – and crack a joke or try to be a little more witty. Share something funny that happened to you during the day with a workmate, friend, or family member.
• Learn to laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself so seriously. You’re funnier than you think. Didn’t we love Jennifer Lawrence when she suffered every actor’s worst nightmare and tripped on the way to receive her award at last year’s Oscar show and then proceeded to make a joke out of it? “You guys are just standing up because I fell and it’s embarrassing, but thank-you,” she said and smiled. At Sunday’s Oscar show, whoops, she did it again, and stumbled over a cone getting out of the limo. She could still laugh about it. Copy that sense of humor. Take my word for it, life will go so much better and you’ll have so much more fun if you can just develop the habit of snickering at yourself.
• You know that song by Olly Murs, “Just Smile?” Do that. Research has confirmed that smiling makes you feel better. Each time you curve your lips upward you throw a feel-good party for your brain. You’ll also look better while you’re smiling – and I’m not just saying that to flatter you. Studies show that when you smile, people treat you differently because they look at you as more attractive, reliable, relaxed, and sincere. So force yourself to think of something funny and just smile, baby!
• Hang out with funny people. Laughter is contagious. In past blogs, I’ve written about the benefits of having positive people in your life. If they giggle a lot, all the better!

There you have it. Now get out there and yukk it up!