The Art of Humour
“Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone”, “Sing, and the hills will answer; Sigh, it is lost on the air”, “Rejoice, and men will seek you; Grieve, and they turn and go; They want full measure of all your pleasure, But they do not need your woe. Be glad, and your friends are many; Be sad, and you lose them all” - Excerpts from ‘Solitude’, by Ella Wheeler Willcox.
Through these carefully woven lines, the master poet shows us that there is nothing more important in life than seeing the humour in any situation. We simply must learn to find something to laugh about in the darkest of times. Humour is easy, humour is free, humour comes cheap and humour is for everyone. We don’t need to take ourselves, our surroundings, our belongings and our situations so seriously that we forget to laugh and go through the trials and tribulations of life without finding a reason to laugh, really really laugh till our eyes are moist and our belly’s hurt.
There is a reason there are laughter clubs, where laughing loudly is considered the best therapy, even general physicians are well known in telling patients that laughter is the best medicine and it releases endorphins which help us battle stress and pain. Stand up comedy wasn't even a profession until some time ago, but today it is a booming and recession proof industry attracting talent of all ages and genders. People have given up top corporate jobs to become stand-up comics and are making a fantastic living out of it. It is a testimony to how much importance people associate with having a good laugh, even though more often than not it is at someone else's expense.
A lot of business leaders are known to comment how their sense of humour keep their teams together and motivated and how being able to laugh at themselves in public only makes them appear that much more humane and just as vulnerable as their subordinates. Nothing binds people like a good laugh and there is no better way to get through a dark situation than being able to laugh your way through it. We end up taking far too grim a view of situations and the fear of the final outcome just makes the process of going through it that much more difficult. Adding a bit of humour even in important meetings or discussions just makes the mood that much lighter and sets an easy-going tone for the rest of the period.
People who are perpetually in a serious mood and refuse to see humour in anything become damp squibs in any group and have a nefarious tendency to be the dreaded ‘energy-vampires’ everyone wants to run far away from. They are armed to the teeth with their ‘positive energy suction pumps’. They have the unique quality in turning the most enjoyable and light hearted conversations into a room full of dread, BEWARE! Surround yourselves with people who have made humour a part of their personality and everyday life and are not able to only laugh at others but at themselves as well.
So go ahead, laugh your heart out, laugh your lungs out and become a master at The Art of Humour!
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