Why don't we laugh more often? Mainly because we have learned not to. Parents and teachers spend a good deal of time telling children, " Wipe that smile off your face"; "Get serious"; "Settle down"; and "Stop acting silly." In addition, laughter requires both spontaneity and surrender of control. As people become adults, they place a good deal of value on self-control and often feel ambivalent about spontaneity. But a mature adult should also understand the need for levity now and then. When Steven Spielberg was filming the holocaust movie Schindler's list, he became so saddened by his subject that a few times a week while on location in Poland, he called comedian Robin Williams and asked him to run through some stand-up routines. If you have a particularly funny friend, you might do the same, but if not, tickle your funny bone with the help of these tips and suggestions.
1. Encourage Laughter
Encourage others to laugh. Mirth is contagious.
2. Look Out For Absurdities
Keep an eye out for the absurdities of everyday of your life. Amusing quips and situations happen all the time. If you look for them, you will find them.
3. Give Gifts
Instead of flowers or food, give sick friends humorous gifts. Try a joke book, a comedy video or a few *** items.
4. Know Your Audience
Humor is individual. Psychology Today magazine once published 30 jokes and asked readers if they found them funny. More than 140,000 readers from all over the map replied. Every joke was rated "very funny" by some readers and "not all funny" by others. In the words of comedian Henny Youngman, " Humor is a form of communication understood by some and misunderstood by most."
5. Develop A Humor First-Aid Kit
Keep a funny book or tape close at hand and dip into it several times a day. Wear humorous buttons and post cartoons, amusing bumper stickers and other witty items where you live, work and play.
6. Laugh At Yourself
Those without a sense of humor, once quipped, can be very funny. Of course, they do not mean to be, and when people begin laughing, those who are unintentionally funny may become embarrassed, self-conscious or insulted. If this happens to you, try to step outside yourself and see your gaffe the way your audience sees it. Laugh at yourself and people laugh with you, not at you.
7. Keep It Tasteful
Do not poke fun at anyone's race, ethnic group, gender, weight, occupation or anything else that might be offensive. Also avoid sarcasm and ridicule. If there has to be a **** of the joke, target yourself or some inanimate object.
If your neighbours on both the sides’ posses’ security on the property and you do not, whose house you guess a thief would target? Sure, he knows the signs don’t really indicate an alarm. Sure, he would be aware about many people who post those signs for discouraging people like the thief from getting in. Though, He’s not feeling very lucky. He’s going to a house, as at least there he gets to know that there is no alarm which is standing by in any hair trigger.
Must you post these security signs? It is purely up to you. If you’ve some active security system, these installers would probably put these signs for us. And, if you do not have some, you might feel safer if you would put up some signs for scaring off thieves. But do you think about the thieves who live nearby? This is called as the neighbourhood thief, the guy you’ll never suspect. He looks your neighbour going and coming, always stopping for arming and disarming the security systems. He sees us going in and coming out of our house without stopping, pulling the door behind you while you juggle the briefcase and the coffee cup. It is very easy for seeing that there is no alarm system in the place, by his daily and casual glance.
Many people would take some humorous approach for security. They put signs like:
“The dog’s fine! Watch out for my wife!”
“Cat: on duty!”
“We are guarded by both Smith and Wesson!”
These signs are amusing, but they won’t stop thieves from picking the house rather than many homes having authentic security sticker. The thief is not just out for a walk. He is seeing for some unprotected house. These signs would assure him that you are unprotected which makes him laugh. If you are counting his uncontrollable laughter for alerting your dog, keep dreaming! How amusing will it be for someone who has entered your home for shaking up your whole world? Victims of these robberies generally tell that the very worst part of this is the thought of invasion it brings. Many people have some trouble trying in relaxing and trusting others for the trauma in being robbed. You may put up the speakers, lights, horns, fake cams you would like and do hope for the very best. But what reason could many have for not keeping these signs if they do have one alarm?
Unlikely as it is, some alarm customers don’t prefer to display these signs. For this, there are 2 main reasons. First, a socially conscious alarm keeper might not prefer to advertise. He might feel very guilty, in some stage, about these facts that he might have things which are worth stealing. All people who grew up in poverty do have an idea that cash is dirty and also the rich people are devils. They think that people would either envy\despise them for something they’ve achieved in their life. This is a very deep and an emotional response, and this doesn’t yield any contrary speech. At least, this house owner knows that he’s protected, even if none does.
The 2nd house owner who does not erect signs is a handyman who keeps the system for himself. He might have bought it in 2nd hand. It’s not likely that such a new system might come without any stickers, but it’s possible.
There are many advantages in displaying security signs but they far outweigh these disadvantages. It has an illusion that might be life saving.
Friendship brings a lot of joy in our lives. Above this, it will be the source of great fun and enjoyment. There are many times where you just make plans with all your friends to spend the day together. A friendship fun day is a time to forget all the serious issues in your life and get a chance to wind, as you seek to have fun. It is therefore vital for you to make your friendship fun day, a day to remember with great emotion. You need the right ideas that will make the day a memorable one. There are several things that you can do to ensure that you have a brilliant day. First, you need to decide on the place or the venue. This will be determined by the kind of activities you are going to get up to. Consider the kind of friends you have. If you are all young people, your choices are endless and unlimited. You can choose to have a sporting theme which can involve swimming, playing soccer, tennis and all other sports that you can possibly think of. If you choose to have a game theme, you can spend your day at a game park or reserve where you will be exploring more. In this adventure, you will get to meet all the game life that is present in your country.
There are lots of other friendship fun day ideas that cannot fit in this article. If you are up for a real challenge, you can plan to climb a mountain in your country. There are mountains that are really tall and there are others which will take you several hours to finish. Many countries will have hills that usually make for good adventure. If you live in a country where you have snow, you can have snow as your theme. A friendship fun day spent as you skate on snow will definitely be a memorable one. There are numerous other things that you can do on snow and the possibilities are amazing. If you love that wild adventure, why not try water rafting. This will call for great preparation but is something that you can do with your friends. Away from adventure ideas, there are many other things you can do. Club hopping is something that has become very popular in society today. A night out with friends where you become naughty for a few hours will not hurt.
For a friendship fun day, you can choose to organize a picnic at a park. This will give you an opportunity to have clean fun as you carry your toys and other gadgets that will help you have fun. Food and drinks must provide all the pleasure because it is hard having fun on an empty stomach. Make extra ordinary dishes with the help of your friends. In the meals, do not forget to bake a cake that you can just indulge in. There is something about cake that just seals the deal. Do not forget to have favors for your friends to help them remember the day. Favors are little presents that everyone should carry to share with friends.
A great Thanksgiving/Christmas movie is Planes, Trains and Automobiles which stars John Candy and Steve Martin. (If you haven't seen I suggest you rent it today.) All that Neal Page (Steve Martin) wants to do is to get home for Thanksgiving. His flight has been cancelled due to bad weather, so he decides on other means of transport. As well as bad luck, Neal is blessed with the presence of Del Griffith John Candy), Shower Curtain Ring Salesman and all-around blabbermouth, who is never short of advice; conversation, bad jokes, or company. And when he decides that he is going the same direction as Neal….well they get into a whole lot of mishaps. At the end Neal just has to look back and laugh.
You know when you goof around with friends and you hit your funny bone which doesn't really feel that funny but you are laughing anyway because of the crazy faces your friend is making?
Did you notice that while you are laughing it doesn't really hurt that much? You don't feel the pain.
Laughter is the best medicine because it does more then cheer you up…
* Your lung capacity expands, improving respiration and oxygen consumption
* Your immune system is activated - so you can better fight infection. Your body releases more of the protective T cells that fight virus and cancer cells
* Endorphins - your body’s natural painkillers - are released into your brain, decreasing stress.
Laughter helps us get through the physical pain and it reduces mental pain!
When you laugh, you feel more hopeful and optimistic.
When you laugh, you say to yourselves - and to the world - “I REFUSE TO SUFFER!”
Laughter helps us survive the most terrible situations like grief and disappointment. You will come out on the other-side a stronger, better, kinder person.
To every situation there is a funny side you just have to be on the lookout for it. You need to stop trying to be perfect, take a step back and be able to laugh at yourself and the things around you more often – and just laugh more.
Having to think up really funny stuff for funny aprons is harder than how it works. You might be asking yourself “how hard could that be? You just need to be funny!” But you can’t be funny on command, especially if you have to be in the right mood, talking to the right people and waiting for really funny stuff to pop into your head. And even when really funny stuff does pop into your head, you need to scramble around for pen and paper so you can capture that thought before it disappears oh, drat it.
Sometimes, you get the best ideas for really funny stuff for funny aprons when you’re not cooking, or not even thinking about your kitchen or food at all. For instance, one idea that cropped up just now is this: a chef holds his junior chef by the lapels and growls “Never share spoons! How would you like it if I shared toothbrushes with you? Never share spoons!” As Einstein once complained in frustration, “Why is it that some of my best ideas crop up when I’m in the shower?”
Having to think up really funny stuffs for funny aprons on impulse often produces the best one-liners you could ever hear of. And having to think up really funny stuffs will produce jokes that you wish have never been attributed to you, because they just plain ****. Let’s face it, being funny is different from thinking up really funny stuffs and some people are just born funny in the same way that some people are born to be chefs. And that sounds like an excellent message to place on a funny apron, isn't it?
By the way, here’s a new joke “what do you call a chef wearing ear plugs in the kitchen?” Answer: “Anything you like, he can’t hear you anyway.” Again, that is something that popped up just out of nowhere just now. And you probably have a lot of things you want to tell the chefs you know that would sound best if they were wearing ear plugs at the time. So now you have a good idea of what type of gift to give them right? Aside from funny aprons, that is.
All these ideas for funny aprons probably makes you wish you could think up really funny stuffs that would be perfect not just for funny aprons but to use during parties and other get-togethers. For instance, you could sneak in a rubber chicken into the chef’s kitchen as he/she is busy cooking and wait for his/her reaction. It can only go two ways, you know – he/she will either howl in rage that he/she has just chopped up a rubber chicken, or he/she will find it extremely funny. Either way, you should wait in the background so you can have a clear escape route should rage be the first reaction. You never know how these chefs react – they take cooking way too seriously sometimes.
If you do find someone who thinks that cooking is practically a religion, then maybe you should give him/her some funny aprons to use. That might help him or her lighten up – or make him/her one worse cook. Cooks and chefs are hard to predict that way.
A study by the Yale School of Management focused upon how one’s mood affects the work environment. Here are some interesting results:
“Emotions spread like viruses, but not all emotions spread with the same ease. Cheerfulness and warmth spread most easily, while irritability is less contagious and depression spreads hardly at all.
“Laughter in particular, demonstrates the power of the open loop in operation—and therefore the contagious nature of all emotion. Hearing laughter, we automatically smile or laugh too, creating a spontaneous chain reaction that sweeps through a group.
“Laughter offers a uniquely trustworthy sign of friendliness. Unlike other emotional signals—especially a smile, which can be feigned—laughter involves highly complex neural systems that are largely involuntary. It’s harder to fake.
“In a neurological sense, laughing represents the shortest distance between two people because it instantly interlocks limbic systems. This immediate, involuntary reaction…involves ‘the most direct communication possible between people—brain to brain—with intellect just going along for the ride.’
“In any work setting, the sound of laughter signals the group’s emotional temperature, offering one sure sign that people’s hearts as well as their minds are engaged.
“A good laugh sends a reassuring message–We’re on the same wavelength, we get along. It signals trust, comfort, and a shared sense of the world - as a rhythm in a conversation, laughing signals that all is well for the moment.” From Primal Leadership, Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goldman.
There is seldom a time in your life when you won’t experience some sort of emotional challenge. During emotional times like these, or the wake from Hurricane Katrina or the anniversary of 9/11, or the latest presidential election, it’s important to share laughter along with the sadness.
Help others to find something to laugh about. Create joyful experiences for your friends at work. Get a group of friends together and go see a funny movie (Wedding Crashers is hysterical). Find humor in your daily doings - your children returning to school, the emergence of football season, or flopping into a batch of brilliantly colored fall leaves.
The most gut-felt, authentic and contagious laughter has little to do with a ‘punch line’ and everything to do with the connectedness between two or more individuals. Become actively conscious about making these connections with your friends, your family, your significant other.
Enjoy your week and go out to find something to laugh about! It’s this attitude that governs your life.
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