Better Than an Apple….

Children under the age of seven do it 300 times a day.  Adults only do it 17 times a day.  What is it – it is laughing.  What happens to our sense of humor between childhood and adulthood that so dramatically reduces the frequency of us laughing?

There is substantial evidence that laughter is good for us.  According to an article on Web MD last year, “Some studies have shown that humor raises infection-fighting antibodies in the body and boosts the levels of immune cells.”  Norman Cousins, who wrote the best selling book Anatomy of an Illness would agree.  He was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis which is a very painful spinal condition.  He was concerned about traditional medical approaches which had proven very ineffective in treating the disease, so he left the hospital, checked himself into a hotel and prescribed laughter for himself.  He watched hours of TV sitcoms, Candid Camera episodes, and hilarious movies.  After only minutes of laughing out loud, he found that he could sleep pain free for a couple of hours.  He credits he laughter therapy for saving his life and his sanity.

There are now specific courses of treatments called “clown therapy” and “humor therapy” that are designed to augment other medical regimens.  Magic, jokes, stories, costumes, and music all contribute significant elements to the core purpose – create situations that inspire giggles, chuckles, and belly-laughs. 

I have an acquaintance who is in the humor business.  His name is Allen Klein, and he refers to himself as a Jolly-tologist. He must have taken his name for the course of study that is dedicated to solely to studying laughter.  It is called gelotology.   He learned about laughter when his wife was dying of cancer.  They did their best to ensure that everyday contained shared laughter.  And while there was pain, both physical and emotional, Allen and his wife celebrated the time they had together with pranks on one another and on anyone else who got close to them.  They relished their collective sense of humor, and it made the tragedy of what was occurring more bearable.

At work we have the opportunity to use humor to bring us closer together.  Sure, there is the need to sensitivity.  We don’t all find the same things funny, and some of us are more sensitive than others.  But humor can increase goodwill and forbearance amongst workgroups, and both of those are very positive workplace characteristics.

Humor at work doesn’t always happen naturally, especially during these difficut times.  We have to expressly permit it, plan it, encourage it, and enjoy it.  Managers and organizational leaders must instigate humor.  Wacky costumes on Halloween, water balloon tosses or dunk tanks for executives at the company picnic, and impromptu comedic moments between co-workers create a lively and engaged workplace.  (Sometime ask me about the giant spiders that lived in our office and then traveled the world for a time.  It was a running joke that lasted for months that had everyone speculating about what would happen next.)

In an article entitled “Humor Improves Communications” written by Paul McGhee, PhD, he suggests the following to appropriately use humor to enhance relationships:

•  Be sure humor is relevant to the point you are making
• Make your point; add a little humor, and then make your point again
• Collect jokes and cartoons that are applicable to your organization – use them in presentations, newletters, or just post them on a bulleting board
• Use humor to start conversations or meetings.  One you might consider is “After numerous requests, this meeting is being held anyway.”   Or come to the meeting with a bulls-eye on your shirt if you know that you are going to be the target of some challenges because of a decision that has been made.

Making humor part of each day, finding things to laugh at and people to laugh with, seeing the preposterous in situations can lighten our spirits, and make the problems of our work and lives a little easier to address. 

For more on how to make your workplaces lively, laugh-filled, and enjoyable, read the material at www.laughterremedy.com  We each have the capacity to laugh.  It is up to us to decide if we are going to remain an “adult” and only laugh occasionally, or whether our smallest children have the right idea when they find that so much of our world is worth a smile and giggle.

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