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Laughter works wonders in business and life
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Published: April 5, 2009
In "The Story File," Steve May tells of three ministers from different churches in the same town who decided to go fishing.
As they fished, they started confessing their sins to one another. The first pastor said, "Can you guess what my big sin is? My sin is drinking."
"On Friday nights, I drive to a bar in a nearby town and proceed to get drunk. I know I shouldn't, and that it's very wrong, but I can't stop myself. That's my big sin."
The second minister spoke up. "My big sin is gambling. Do you remember all that money that I raised for the orphanage?"
"Well, I took it to Las Vegas and I lost every penny. I feel so ashamed, because my big sin is gambling."
It was the third man's turn. He said, "Guys, I probably should've gone first, 'cause my big sin is gossiping!"
I chose to start off today with a joke, since April is National Humor Month. Didn't it feel good to smile or laugh just now?
But it's not a rosy picture. In 1996, Health Magazine reported that preschool children laugh 400 times a day, but that figure plummets to an average of only 15 times a day by the time we reach age 35.
Whoa! What happened?
When we grow up, we're "supposed" to get all serious and solemn, or that's what "they" say. I say "they" should take a hike.
Many people associate a sense of humor with being funny, telling jokes, or playing pranks, but it's something quite different.
Using humor is more about an upbeat perspective, about a light-hearted and positive approach to situations, an outlook centered in the fun of being human, in celebrating one another and those things humorous in our day-to-day living.
An HR Director at Chili's restaurant said "Our philosophy is that if you're having fun, you'll be much more productive."
Accountemps found that 96 percent of executives surveyed think that people with a sense of humor do better at their jobs than those who have little or no sense of humor.
Humor in your work and life is spontaneous, as about 80 percent of all fun, and laughter is unplanned. It's said the reason angels can fly is they take themselves so lightly.
When filming the holocaust movie "Schindler's List" in Poland, Steven Spielberg made weekly phone calls to comedian Robin Williams, who lifted his spirit.
Abraham Lincoln, in the darkest moments of the Civil War, was chastised by his staff for his moments of levity, to which he replied, "Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die."
If Spielberg and Lincoln did it, so can you.
Turn off the TV or Ipod and get social. Robert Provine at the University of Maryland found that people laugh 30 times more often in a social setting than they do alone.
Share a joke or funny story.
If you feel yourself sinking down in a funky gloom, hit the pause-button and step outside in the spring sunshine. Smile.
Associate with positive people, and avoid those masquerading as black clouds.
The late President John Kennedy liked to say, "There are three things which are real: God, human folly and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension so we must do what we can with the third."
Happy National Humor Month. Let's make it a success.
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